Ill lllill 






' 





Class _2?iL/_^_Q 

Book Jixsi_. 

Co^ghtN°_-J.a&iQ_ 

COPYRIGHT DEPOSJCIi 




Frontispiece. 
Fig. 1. — Compound microscope with thermo-stage. The heating plate is clamped 
on the stage of the microscope and is warmed by means of an alcohol lamp 
or small gas burner. The temperature is indicated on the thermometer. 
The thermo-stage is almost indispensable in the examination of proximate 
principles, especially organic substances where differences in melting-points 
may be used in their identification. 

Thermo-stages are also constructed which are electrically heated. These 
are provided with an adjustable electro-thermostat that automatically main- 
tain a constant temperature. These are usually made for the study of 
living organisms, but can be obtained to register as high as 100° C. 



SCIENTIFIC and APPLIED 

PHARMACOGNOSY 

INTENDED FOR THE USE OF STUDENTS IN PHARMACY, 

AS A HAND BOOK FOR PHARMACISTS, AND AS A 

REFERENCE BOOK FOR FOOD AND DRUG 

ANALYSTS AND PHARMACOLOGISTS 

BY 

HENRY KRAEMER 

Ph.B. (in Chemistry), Ph.M. (in Pharmacy ^ 
Ph.D. (in Botany). 

DEAN OF THE COLLEGE OF PHARMACY AND PROFESSOR OF PHARMACOGNOSY IN 

THE UNIVERSITY OF MICHIGAN COLLEGE OF PHARMACY; MEMBER OF THE 

EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF REVISION OF THE PHARMACOPCEIA OF 

THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA; CORRESPONDING MEMBER 

OF THE SOCIETE DE PHARMACIE DE PARIS, ETC. 



ILLUSTRATED 

With over 300 plates comprising about 1000 figures. 
SECOND EDITION, THOROUGHLY REVISED 



NEW YORK 

JOHN WILEY & SONS, Inc. 

London: CHAPMAN & HALL, Limited 

1920 



"RS 



bC 



Kis- 



Copyright, 1915, 1920, by 
HENRY KRAEMER 



ALL RIGHTS RESERVED 



MAY -I 1920 



PRESS OF 
3/l l/20 BRAUNWORTH fc CO. 

BOOK MANUFACTURERS 
BROOKLYN, N. Y. 



©CU565752 



PREFACE TO SECOND EDITION 



The results of the work in Pharmacognosy are being increas- 
ingly appreciated not only in pharmacy and medicine, but in those 
arts and professions in which technical skill is required. The 
demand in every form of industry to-day is for those who can per- 
form the exceptional task, for those who can detect the defects in 
common practice and devise ways of improvement. The train- 
ing in Pharmacognosy, as was pointed out in the first edition, is very 
thorough, and the scope of the work is exceedingly broad. While 
the science of Pharmacognosy was developed to promote the study 
of drugs, yet in its application it requires a very practical knowl- 
edge of nearly every substance found in nature. The author there- 
fore has modified the definition , and enlarged the scope of the sub- 
ject. Either this was necessary or it would have been incumbent 
to originate a new word. But as usage eventually determines a 
definition, it is believed that nearly all pharmacognosists will agree 
with the author in the position he has taken. 

Since the publication of the first edition of this book there have 
been a great many contributions to the literature of Pharmacognosy. 
These papers, prepared largely by American authors, deal with adul- 
terations and the variations in constituents, due to the cultivation 
of medicinal plants. Cognizance of all of this work has been taken 
and incorporated in this new edition, thus practically bringing it 
up to date. There has also been incorporated the Government 
standards for spices and flavoring substances. This has been done 
to enable the pharmacognosist to keep in mind the exact require- 
ments which must be met in the examination of commercial products. 
There are a great many subdivisions of Pharmacognosy and the two 
which are commanding greatest attention to-day are, the cultivation 
of medicinal plants and pharmaco-chemistry, the latter dealing 
with the study of the constituents of plants. In the present volume, 
under the several drugs which have been cultivated, will be found 
references to the literature of important papers published since the 



iv PEEFACE TO SECOND EDITION 

first edition was published. The study of plant constituents is receiv- 
ing greater attention and the papers dealing with the microscopical 
studies are increasing in number. The examination of sublimates 
obtained upon pyro-analysis of drugs is deserving of greater atten- 
tion. During the past few years the author has had a great many 
students follow this kind of work with a great deal of success. The 
number of active principles which can be sublimed is increasing and 
one is almost constrained to say that there are very few drugs which 
do not yield a characteristic sublimate on igniting the drug. Further- 
more, these sublimates can be further tested for identity so that 
in applying this form of analysis it has a specific value in identify- 
ing the drug and may be used as a criterion of its quality. For 
these reasons this subject has been enlarged upon and a few illustra- 
tions have been introduced. 

The general make-up of the book has been improved in several 
particulars. The size of the printed page has been increased, thus 
decreasing the number of pages and making it a more convenient 
hand-book for the student. A most notable change has been in 
the use of bold-face type to distinguish the titles of drugs discussed 
and to indicate some of the more important features. These changes 
will facilitate the use of the work by students and analysts. 

H. K. 
January, 1920. 



PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION 



Owing to the role played by vegetable substances in the treat- 
ment of disease, pharmacognosy takes rank as one of the most 
important divisions of applied botany, as by far the great majority 
of substances used in medicine are derived from the plant kingdom. 
The training for this study is fundamentally botanical, and the 
technique employed is essentially that of the plant morphologist, 
physiologist and taxonomist. Moreover, the value of drugs depends 
upon their constituents, and so the pharmacognocist must possess 
a working knowledge of chemistry. He must not only be familiar 
with plant principles in their isolated and purest forms, but must 
apprehend their nature, combination and location in the plant. 
Pharmacognosy, therefore, is on the one hand an applied branch of 
botany, and on the other of chemistry. But even in this statement 
we have only a partial view of the nature of the problems that con- 
front the pharmacognocist, as he must be prepared to directly apply 
the results of science to practice and assist in the solution of a great 
variety of practical problems. The present work abounds in illus- 
trations which show that practical pharmacognosy is dependent 
upon the progress of scientific pharmacognosy. Among the prob- 
lems which require the attention of the pharmacognist is the relation 
of soil and climatic conditions to the variation in the constituents of 
drugs, and the nature of the chemical changes that ensue in their 
drying or curing. The problems of the pharmacognocist begin with 
the living plant and are not entirely completed when the drug 
reaches the retail pharmacist, as there are pharmacological questions 
which frequently await his solution. 

At present it is becoming recognized that the pharmacognocist 
should work in the field with the drug collector, stand at the port of 
entry of commerce to determine what drugs are fit for use, and act as 
the analyst for the state and Pharmaceutical Examining Boards in 
determining to what an extent there is uniformity in the drugs and 
preparations that have been dispensed. 



VI PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION 

The domain of pharmacognosy because of the diversity of interests 
is one of the most fascinating studies that can engage the attention 
of pharmacists. The first question that should be asked in any under- 
taking, viz., " is the work worth while?" must be answered in the 
affirmative owing to the fundamental importance of the subject. 
The work in pharmacognosy ought to be stimulating to the student, 
for in the meaning of the word is implied the thought that he desires 
to know drugs and to understand them from every angle. 

The modern study of pharmacognosy would be rather difficult if 
the student did not have some special work on botany as his guide in 
the study of fundamental facts and principles. The author has pub- 
lished a work on " Applied and Economic Botany " which supplies 
this deficiency. It should be used preparatory to taking up the 
pharmacognosy as considered in the present work. There are many 
phases of botanical investigation which are not considered in the usual 
courses in botany, especially those relating to cell contents, cell walls 
and the variations in tissues. These must be dealt with at great 
length in the botanical courses of colleges of pharmacy and will be 
found to be adequately considered in the text book referred to. 
Furthermore, in this work will be found a large amount of practical 
information concerning medicinal and economic plants, with which 
the pharmacognocist should be acquainted, and which to a large 
extent supplements the text of the present volume. In addition 
the illustrations of living plants and technical products will stimulate 
the student, and had they been included in the present volume would 
have made it unwieldy as a text book or as a hand book for the 
pharmacist. 

In the present volume drugs are arranged according to families 
for the reason stated on page xxviii. It will be noted that in con- 
nection with each of the families there is given a synopsis of the 
morphological characters and more especially the histological char- 
acteristics of each group. A few of the important animal drugs 
are also considered and a key for the identification of powdered drugs 
is appended. In connection with each drug an adequate literature 
citation is given. This has not been extended, as Zornig in his work 
on "Arzneidrogen " has given a very complete bibliographical sum- 
mary, and it should be consulted by investigators. 

The present work is illustrated throughout, and the student is 
advised to consult the illustrations freely, not only on account of their 
value in elucidating the descriptions, but also because the legends 
contain information which, in some instances, supplements that 
given in the text. It should be stated that a large proportion of the 



PREFACE TO FIRST EDITION vii 

illustrations are reproductions of photographs and drawings made 
by the author, and that in all cases where illustrations are bor- 
rowed, or drawings have been especially made for this book, credit 
is given each author in connection with the reproduction. 

One of the most difficult questions which arises in writing a work of 
this kind is that relating to nomenclature. Owing to the desirability 
of maintaining a stable nomenclature, particularly for medicinal plants, 
the author has adopted a rather conservative course and has been 
largely guided by Engler and Prantl and Index Kewensis, or, in the 
case of plants growing in the United States preference is given to 
the names adopted in Gray's New Manual of Botany, revised by 
Robinson and Fernald. 

In the preparation of a book like the present it is self-evident that 
it is based upon the work of the great masters who have developed 
pharmacognosy from its inception. In the Introductory chapter and 
throughout the work the names of these men are referred to and in 
some instances illustrations are given which stand as monuments to 
their labors. 

Among the works consulted by the author, and of which special 
mention should be made, are the following: Systematic Anatomy of 
the Dicotyledons, by Hans Solereder, translation by Boodle, Fritsch 
and Scott; Arzneidrogen, by Heinrich Zornig; Pharmakognosie, by 
Vogl; Traite de Toxicologic Vegetale, by M. Eug. Collin; Pflanzen- 
mikrochemie, by 0. Tunmann; Die Heilpflanzen, by Georg Dragen- 
dorff; The 'Volatile Oils, by Gildemeister & Hoffmann, translation 
by Edward Kremers; Die Pflanzen-Alkaloide, by Jul. Wilh. Bruhl, 
E. Hjelt and O. Aschan. 

Grateful acknowledgment is also made to the following publishers 
for permission to reproduce illustrations from the works mentioned: 
Wilhelm Engelmann, of Leipzig: Die naturlichen Pflanzen-familien 
by Engler and Prantl. Gebruder Borntraeger, of Berlin: Handbuch 
der systematische/|Botanik by E. Warming. Weidmannsche Buch- 
handlung, of Berlin: WissenschaftHche Drogenkunde by Arthur 
Meyer. Gustav Fischer, of Jena: Lehrbuch der Botanik by Stras- 
burger, Noll, Schenck and Schimper. The publishers of Merck's 
Report and the Editor of the American Journal of Pharmacy. 

Acknowledgment also is made to Dr. Charles Travis for his 
cooperation and careful studies of the alkaloidal crystals described 
in this book, and to Dr. Walter E. King for revising the manuscript 
of the pages on Applied Bacteriology. 

H. K. 



CONTENTS 



PAGE 

Introductory xiii 

Scope and Problems xiii 

General Principles and Rules xxi 

Thallophytes 1 

Schizomycetes, or Bacteria 1 

Algae 5 

Phaeophyceae, or Brown Algae 6 

Rhodophyceae, or Red Algae. . . 7 

Bacillariacaae, or Diatoms 9 

Fungi 11 

Poisonous Fungi 18 

Saccharomyces, or Yeasts 24 

Lichens 26 

Archegoniates 29 

Ferns and Fern- Allies 29 

Spermophytes 36 

Gymnosperms 35 

Pinaceae, or Pine Family 35 

Angiosperms 50 

Monocotyledons 51 

Gramineae, or Grass Family 51 

Palmae, or True Palms 67 

Araceae, or Arum Family 73 

Commelinacaea, or Spiderwort Family 76 

Liliaceae, or Lily Family 76 

Dioscoreaceae, or Yam Family 108 

Amaryllida eae, or Amaryllus Family 109 

Iridaceae, or Iris Family 110 

Zingiberaceae, or Ginger Family 117 

Marantaceae, or Arrowroot Family 128 

Orchidaceae, or Orchid Family 130 

Dicotyledons 140 

Piperaceae, or Pepper Family 142 

Salicaceae, or Willow Family 155 

Myricaceae, or Sweet Gale Family 158 

Juglandaceae, or Walnut Family 159 

Betulaceae, or Birch Family 162 

or Beech Family 165 

ix 



CONTENTS 

PAGE 

Urticaceae, or Nettle Family 170 

Ulmaceae, or Elm Family 172 

Moraceae, or Mulberry Family 173 

Santalaceae, or Sandalwood Family 181 

Aristolochiaceae, or Birthwort Family 184 

Polygonaceae, or Buckwheat Family 187 

Chenopodiaceae, or Goosefoot Family 195 

Phytolaccaceae, or Pokeweed Family , 198 

Caryophyllaceae, or Pink Family 200 

Anonaceae, or Custard Apple Family 202 

Myristicaceae, or Nutmeg Family 203 

Ranunculaceae, or Crowfoot Family 208 

Berberidaceae, or Barberry Family 230 

Menispermaceae, or Moonseed Family 238 

Magnoliaceae, or Magnolia Family 245 

Monimiaceae, or Monimia Family 248 

Lauraceae, or Laurel Family 250 

Papaveraceae, or Poppy Family 263 

Fumariaceae, or Fumitory Family 276 

Cruciferae, or Mustard Family 279 

Droseraceae, or Sundew Family 285 

Saxifragaceae, or Saxifrage Family 286 

Hamamelidaceae, or Witchhazel Family 287 

Rosaceae, or Rose Family 294 

Leguminosae, or Pulse Family 310 

Geraniaceae, or Geranium Family 348 

Linaceae, or Flax Family 350 

Erythroxylaceac, or Coca Family 352 

Zygophyllaceae, or Caltrop Family 359 

Rutaceae, or Rue Family 362 

Simarubaceae, or Quassia Family 375 

Burseraceae, or Myrrh Family 380 

Meliaceae, or Mahogany Family 382 

Polygalaceae, or Milkwort Family 387 

Euphorbiaceae, or Spurge Family 390 

Anarcardiaceae, or Sumac Family 401 

Celastraceae, or Staff-free Family 409 

Aceraceae, or Maple Family 411 

Sapindaceae, or Soapberry Family 414 

Rhamnaceae, or Buckthorn Family 423 

Malvaceae, or Mallow Family 427 

Sterculiaceae, or Cola Family 435 

Guttiferae, or Gamboge Family 443 

jCistaceae, or Rockrose Family 444 

Bixaceae, or Annatto Family 446 

Winteranaceae, or (Canellaceae), or Canella Family 447 

Turneraceae, or Damiana Family 449 

Passifloraceae, or Passion Flower Family 451 

Caricaceae, or Papaw Family 453 

Cactaceae, or Cactus Family r ............ . 455 



CONTENTS xi 



PAGE 



Thymelaeaceae, or Mezereon Family 457 

Punicaceae, or Pomegranate Family 460 

Myrtacese, or Myrtle Family 463 

Combretaceae, or Myrobalans Family 470 

Araliacese, or Ginseng Family 473 

Umbellif erae, or Carrot Family 478 

Cornaceae, or Dogwood Family 502 

Ericaceae, or Heath Family 503 

Sapotaceae, or Gutta-percha Family 510 

Styracaceae, or Styrax Family 511 

Oleaceae, or Olive Family 513 

Loganiaceae, or Nux-vomica Family 517 

Gentianaceae, or Gentian Family 532 

Apocynaceae, or Dogbane Family 540 

Asclepiadaceae, or Milkweed Family 549 

Convolvulaceae, or Morning Glory Family 552 

Hydrophyllaceae, or Waterleaf Family 560 

Boraginaceae, or Borage Family 562 

Verbenaceae, or Vervain Family 563 

Labiatae, or Mint Family 564 

Solanaceae, or Nightshade Family 580 

Scrophulariaceae, or Figwort Family 616 

Rubiaceae, or Madder Family 632 

Caprifoliaceae, or Honey Suckle Family 648 

Valerianaceae, or Valerian Family 652 

Cucurbitaceae, or Pumpkin Family 654 

Campanulaceae, or Bluebell Family 661 

Compositae, or Composite Family 664 

Animal Drugs 699 

Powdered Drugs 713 

Index 725 



INTRODUCTORY 



SCOPE AND PROBLEMS 

Pharmacognosy is essentially the study of raw materials and 
the products manufactured from them. While the origin of this 
science dates back more than a century in the Old World, it is only 
within the last twenty years that the subject has received any serious 
attention in this country. During this time much has been done to 
make pharmacognosy and chemistry the fundamental sciences in 
pharmacy. 

In a narrow sense pharmacognosy embraces the study of medicinal 
plants and their crude products commonly designated as drugs. It 
has, however, many ramifications and its branches extend into nearly 
all of the industries, requiring the consideration of a very great num- 
ber of economic plants and their products. The divisions extend 
into the drug business, the spice trade, cereals and food products, 
the gums yielding varnishes, the origin of vegetable dyes, the prop- 
erties of woods, the nature of fibers, papers and fabrics, etc., so that, 
in short, pharmacognosy deals with the properties, identification, 
sources, and nature of raw materials and their products. 

Use of Microscope. — Inasmuch as pharmacognosy requires that 
one shall be expert in the use of the microscope it might be said to be 
equivalent to technical microscopy or microscopical technology, 
meaning thereby the use of the microscope for the identification of, 
or confirmation of analytical data obtained in the examination of 
any natural or commercial product. An excellent illustration of 
the value of the microscope in the examination of a commercial 
product is in the case of a seizure of apple jelly many years ago. 
The price was such that at once the health authorities suspected that 
it was an artificial product. As the nature of it could not chemically 
be detected, it occurred to someone to examine it under the micro- 
scope and it was found to contain the skeletons of certain specific 
diatoms. In tracing the habitat of these organisms it was ascertained 

xiii 



xiv INTRODUCTORY 

that they grew upon certain seaweeds in the Pacific ocean, especially 
in the vicinity of the Japan Sea. This led to the discovery that 
agar-agar, now a common commercial article, had been employed in 
the making of the jelly. 

Aim of Pharmacognosy. — The ultimate aim of the science of 
pharmacognosy is to obtain a knowledge of the chemical nature and 
the properties of all commercial products, from their origin in nature 
to the final changes produced in their manufacture. To attain this 
object requires that the student in pharmacognosy should be well- 
trained in chemistry. 

The term pharmacognosy was introduced by Seydler in 1815, 
and is formed from two Greek words, ^dpfxaKov , medicine, and 
Yvoiois, knowledge; and literally means the science or sum of knowl- 
edge of drugs. 1 The most comprehensive idea of the scope of phar- 
macognosy has been given to us by Fliickiger, who states that it 
" is the simultaneous application of various scientific disciplines with 
the object of acquiring the knowledge of drugs from every point of 
view." The subject was unusually well expounded by Martius, 
who, in 1825, published a work entitled " Grundriss der Pharmakog- 
nosie des Pflanzenreiches," and may be regarded as a great pioneer 
in pharmacognosy. 

Historical. — Tschirch has well said that pharmacognosy dates 
back further than any of the departments of pharmacy. He rightly 
states that the old herbalists (rhizotomists) were really the first 
pharmacognocists, and he considers that Dioscorides, by reason of 
his writings on medicinal plants, was the first teacher in pharmacog- 
nosy. One is sometimes tempted to draw a narrow line and say 
that the history of the subject begins with the work of Martius. 

While it is true that Martius appreciated the significance of the 
word " pharmacognosy," we must not forget that prior to the last 
century and even much later it was usual for people to get their 
drugs directly from the living plants. Up until comparatively 
recently the identification of drugs was based on a study of living 
plants, and it was necessary, therefore, not so much to distinguish 
between the substances which were brought to market as it was for 
those who gathered medicinal plants to identify them in the field. 

The work of the herbalists and systematists of earlier times 
gradually merges with that of the morphologists of more recent 
years. There has been a growing tendency to study not only the 

1 Henry Kraemer, " The Rise and Development of Pharmacognosy," Pharm. 
Era, Oct., Nov. and Dec, 1912. In this article there occurs citation of the impor- 
tant literature of the subject. 



SCOPE AND PROBLEMS XV 

portions of living plants furnishing the drugs of commerce, but the 
entire plant. This is necessary, if we would understand the real 
significance of the characteristics of drugs. Fortunately, also, 
plants are being studied at close range and under conditions of culti- 
vation, so that there will be less misapprehension in regard to the 
authenticity of the materials entering commerce. In former years a 
number of mistakes have been made in describing drugs which might 
have been avoided had the identity of the material been first deter- 
mined and the foundation studies made upon the living plant. 

Histological Pharmacognosy. — The development of modern 
pharmacognosy may be said to date from the initial studies on the 
inner morphology or the anatomy of plants. All of these studies 
show that in the cellular structure of plants we find the plant unit. 
The importance of this discovery will be at once apparent when we 
recall that very many plants, as well as drugs, may resemble each 
other very closely when viewed macroscopically, but when we come 
to examine their cellular structure we find that the nature of the cells 
and their contents or their arrangement is constant for the most part 
for the same drug, and vary in different plants or drugs. 

This advance in the study of plants is largely due to Schleiden, 
who, in 1838, announced that the cell is the fundamental unit in 
plants and showed that all the different tissues are combinations 
of cells. Schleiden not only contributed very largely to the knowl- 
edge of the structure of plants, but was among the first to recognize 
that drugs of different origin might be determined by their cellular 
differences. Without having any knowledge, for instance, that the 
several commercial sarsaparillas were obtained from different species 
of Smilax, he showed by reason of certain differences in the cells of 
the hypodermis and endo dermis that they must be obtained from 
different species, which has since been proven to be the case. 

Schleiden early saw that pharmacognosy was to be a distinct 
science. He designated pharmacognosy as a botanical discipline, 
indeed he said: " Pharmacognosy is the mother of all scientific 
discipline." When Schleiden said this he no doubt had in mind 
the difficulties attending pharmacognostical work and recognized 
the value of the training required in this study. For the phar- 
macognocist working upon dried materials must have in mind the 
relationship between the fragments of the drug he is examining 
and the growing plant. 

Adulteration in Drugs. — By adulteration we mean the deteriora- 
tion or deficiency in quality of a commercial product, no matter 
what this may be due to. It may be due to a variety of causes such 



XVI INTRODUCTORY 

as aging, lack of care in preparation, substitution, extraction of 
important constituents, or the addition of other substances which 
may be either harmless or harmful. Adulteration may occur in a 
great variety of forms. The following may be mentioned as giving 
some idea of not unusual occurrence: 

Large pieces of iron may be used to increase weight, as in Bur- 
gundy Pitch; pieces of lead pipe may be inserted in the fresh root as 
in Ginseng; bullets are occasionally found in the masses of opium; 
pebbles and rocks admixed with asafcetida; large quantities of dirt 
may be left in the middle of the bundles of sarsaparilla ; the substi- 
tution for a proximate principle, as papain by bread; admixture or 
even substitution by other species as apocynum, hyoscyamus and 
scammony, in which occur closely related forms; the substitution 
by widely separated genera as Mountain maple bark for Viburnum 
Opulus; in still other cases toxic drugs may be substituted for the 
genuine, as spurious cubebs for true cubebs, belladonna for inula. 

Micro-chemistry. — During the past fifteen or twenty years there 
has been a growing interest in the study of plant constituents by 
the application of chemical reagents to microscopic sections. 

Up until recently we have been largely concerned in the identi- 
fication of raw materials and have been quite content to be able to 
distinguish the genuine article from spurious substances. This 
work has been based largely upon the forms of cells and composi- 
tion and structure of the cell wall. In some instances the study 
of some of the cell contents, as of starch grains and crystals of cal- 
cium oxalate, has afforded an important clue to the identity of the 
product under examination. As our interest in the study of the 
quality of the drugs increases, and this is based upon the constituents 
or those principles called active principles, it is very important that 
these constituents be studied in the cells of the plants and drugs. 

A careful perusal of the literature will show that very many 
observations have been made showing the separation out in micro- 
scopic sections of definite crystalline substances. In some cases 
these occur even upon the outside of the drug, as the coumarin crys- 
tals on tonka beans and vanillin crystals on vanilla pods. 
Again, these crystals may be formed upon heating the material, as in 
benzoin and many other drugs. 1 Again, crystalline substances 
separate upon the addition of mineral acids, as when nitric or sul- 
phuric acid is added to sections of hydrastis. Cognizance of these 
crystals is being taken to some extent in all of the progressive phar- 
macopoeias, and while the subject is in a more or less chaotic condi- 

^tto Tunmann, "Pflanzenmikrochemie," 1913; Kraemer's "Applied and 
Economic Botany," 1916. 



SCOPE AND PROBLEMS xvii 

tion at present, yet the interest in this method of analysis is growing 
to such an extent that we may expect before long that the crystal- 
lographic methods of analysis will play quite as important a part in 
the work of the pharmacognocist as the anatomical or histological 
methods have up until this time. 

Problems of Pharmacognosy. — Pharmacognosy has for its object 
the study of drugs and the plants yielding them. The main object 
is not only to determine the identity of the drug and its origin, but 
the study of its constituents and the factors influencing their varia- 
tion in the living plant as well as after collection. In the pursuit 
of pharmacognosy we examine drugs which for the most part consist 
of broken fragments, and from these pieces, frequently microscopic 
in size, the plants from which they are derived must be determined. 
Again, particles which resemble each other or are obtained from 
very closely related species must be separated. Parts of other plants 
growing with them in the soil must be distinguished and standards 
established showing how much of this extraneous material is per- 
missible, and these standards must be so framed that drugs collected 
at widely separated points will be of uniform quality and efficiency. 

The problems of pharmacognosy take us at once into the field 
where the origin of the drugs can be studied at first hand. A second 
phase of the subject are the studies of pure morphology dealing with 
the development of certain structures as the stipes in cubeb, or the 
origin of tissues in seeds, and scars or markings in roots and rhizomes. 
The difference in constituents of different parts of the same plant, as 
the oils in the leaves and bark of cinnamon or difference in the propor- 
tion of alkaloids in the different kinds of cinchona, offers a most fertile 
opportunity for the application of physiological studies. Further- 
more, when we approach the subject of the cultivation of medicinal 
plants we are confronted with the problems of hybridization and 
mutation. We may further expect those who have had special 
training in the literature and language are likely to become interested 
in the historical study of drugs and in the nomenclature employed in 
designating them in commerce. In the historical study of drugs 
such phases are considered as the origin of their introduction into 
medicine, the dissemination of information concerning their uses 
among other nations, the official recognition by some of the more 
important pharmacopoeias, and finally the facts regarding their 
real usefulness as supplied by modern pharmacological investigations 
and clinical experience. 

The study of synonyms is one of the most important departments 
of pharmacognosy. While there have been some attempts to treat 



xvm INTRODUCTORY 

of the synonyms of drug names and their derivation, nothing has been 
written which is adequate to the needs of this subject. It is one of 
the most difficult phases of pharmacognosy, and requires that the 
student shall be acquainted not only with the principles of scientific 
nomenclature, but that he shall be familiar with the several languages 
and the historical development of pharmacognosy. Tschirch 
has designated this department of pharmacognosy, pharmaco- 
etymology. 

Finally, there is a phase of pharmacognostical work that is 
receiving greater attention each year, and this is the division which 
relates to the study of drugs from the time they are shipped by 
the collector until they reach the retail pharmacist or even the con- 
sumer. This subject cannot be ignored, for it involves the study of 
the packing of drugs, the conditions of storage, and the changes in 
the quality of drugs in passing from hand to hand. While some few 
drugs remain more or less unaltered, or even may be improved on 
storing for a limited time, a large number of the more valuable of them 
require that they be kept under special conditions and for a very lim- 
ited period of time. As indicating the importance of the subject the 
various pharmacopoeias are giving very explicit directions regarding 
the manner in which certain drugs shall be kept and how long they 
will retain their active constituents. This study requires an 
intimate acquaintance on the part of the pharmacognocist with the 
collector, the appraiser's stores, the wholesale warehouse, and the 
retail drug store. 

It should also be stated that in practice we have a scientific 
pharmacognosy and a practical one. The problems of these two 
departments of pharmacognosy may be the same, as may also be 
the results, but the objects in view are very different. In the one, 
investigations are carried on that our knowledge of drugs may be 
made more complete and the investigator considers neither the 
cost nor the time. In the other the expert proceeds so far in the 
search for this knowledge as the problem in hand permits. The 
results of the scientific investigator will be published, whereas the 
results of the practical expert are usually withheld. 

To a scientific mind the practices of commercial life are enig- 
matical, especially as they relate to the sale of foods and drugs. 
The scientist is familiar with the great variation of commercial 
products and has been publishing for many years the results of his 
studies with the view of benefiting mankind. So engrossed is he in 
his search for the truth that he can hardly conceive that others are 
not working toward this same end. One can imagine his disappoint- 



SCOPE AND PROBLEMS xix 

ment in finding that the motive of the manufacturer, in practice at 
least, works out quite to the contrary. 

There are several reasons that may be given for the conditions 
that have prevailed in commercial life up until very recently. In 
the first place the public could not distinguish whether the com- 
modities they were buying were pure or adulterated. Then price 
competition and the demand of the public for " cheap foods and 
cheap drugs " must have caused manufacturers at first to shorten 
the process of purification, and this was but a step leading to the 
addition of more or less harmless substances until finally harmful 
foods and inert drugs were generally exploited. A third factor was 
the lack of knowledge on the part of the manufacturers and dealers 
to distinguish genuine foods and drugs from those which were adul- 
terated, spurious or worthless. This condition was remedied so soon 
as analytical data concerning the composition of foods and drugs 
were published in the scientific journals and some of the State Boards 
of Health employed analysts who published reports from time to 
time on market conditions. 

These published results were rather startling, as up to within 
fifteen years ago it was stated that " of the whole food supply of the 
country one-seventh is adulterated/' One can readily obtain figures 
in any of the pharmaceutical journals during the past ten years 
showing that something like 50 per cent of the powdered drugs upon 
the market were adulterated. The trade in spices was even worse, 
for we read that " the adulteration of spices is a practice so common 
that we would really be surprised to find goods pass through the 
grocery trade that are absolutely pure." This condition, of course, 
could not continue indefinitely, and fortunately a few manufacturers, 
who valued the reputation of their products even more than the money 
they could make out of them, lent support to National and State legis- 
lation which should fix standards of purity for foods and drugs. 
This finally ended in the passage of the Food and Drugs Act in 1906, 
which was followed by co-operative legislation in the various states. 

The Microscope has been employed in the examination of drugs 
since 1847, when Schleiden used it in the examination of the sarsa- 
parillas. In 1853 Schacht showed its value in the examination of 
textile fibers. The earliest reference in English to the use of the 
microscope as a means of detecting the admixture or adulteration 
of drugs is the statement of Professor Pereira in his introductory 
lecture before the Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain in 1851, 
when he said: " You are doubtless conversant with the recent very 
extensive employment of the microscope for disclosing the adultera 



XX INTRODUCTORY 

tion of food. No less useful — no less powerful is it in disclosing the 
contamination of drugs; and I cannot too strenuously recommend 
you to employ it." 

The investigations of Pereira, Hassal and others showed even 
at that time not only that the microscope had unlimited valuable 
practical applications, but that it was the only means which had 
been discovered to detect the admixture or adulteration of non- 
crystalline organic substances. An article published in the American 
Journal of Pharmacy in 1853 (pp. 45-48) on the use of the microscope 
in the examination of drugs shows that in spite of the fact that it has 
only recently come into general use its value was very early appre- 
ciated. 

Some years ago a pharmacist, who had made a specialty of 
spices and endeavored to purchase only the purest available, became 
suspicious upon opening one keg of ground black pepper and finding 
a large fragment of a pod of cayenne pepper. A subsequent exam- 
ination of the powder showed that it was an artificial product which 
was very common some years ago, the strength being reinforced by 
the use of cayenne pepper. 

Very many instances could be given showing the value of the 
microscope in the examination of commercial products and the 
detection of adulteration as the presence of poke-root in belladonna 
root, or the substitution of ruellia for spigelia, foreign starches in 
cacao, presence of capsicum in ground ginger, the endocarp of olive 
(commonly called olive pits) in ground pepper and other spices as 
well as in powdered drugs, the presence of wheat middlings in ground 
mustard as well as in ground spices and drugs, and even to the detec- 
tion of organic or inorganic crystalline substances in complex prepara- 
tions. The use of the microscope is not only valuable in analytical 
work, but it is also valuable in synthetic work, as in determining 
the composition of cattle powders, medicinal teas, flavoring mixtures 
and practically all artificial combinations. 

Those who are especially interested in this subject and are con- 
sidering the advisability of preparing themselves for this work may 
ask for a definite statement as to the subjects that one should be pro- 
ficient in in order to be a successful pharmacognocist. Taking it 
for granted that this inquiry is being made by the student who has 
his whole future ahead of him and who, it is presumed, can take 
the necessary time to qualify, we may say that the pharmacognocist 
of the future should have as a foundation rather thorough laboratory 
instruction in botany, chemistry, physics and crystallography. Not 
one of these branches can he afford to neglect, and the amount of 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND RULES xxi 

instruction should be at least the equivalent of that given in .these 
various subjects in the undergraduate courses of any of the best 
American universities. 

On the other hand, no amount of reading or scientific training 
will quite take the place of a real interest in the subject. This 
interest can be acquired not only in the drug store or large warehouse, 
but in college laboratories with their extensive collections. 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND RULES 

Before taking up the individual drugs some general definitions 
should be discussed and some generalizations concerning the collec- 
tion and preservation of drugs should be given consideration. 

The natural origin is the scientific name (generic and specific 
names) of the plant or animal yielding the drug. In the case of 
vegetable drugs the natural origin is spoken of as the botanical origin. 
A vegetable drug usually represents some special part of the plant, 
but in some instances the entire plant is employed as chirata. 

The habitat of plants is the region where theyjjow. Sometimes 
this term is applied erroneously to the drugs themselves. Neither 
the scientific name of the plant nor the commercial name of the drug 
may be relied upon as indicating the true habitat of medicinal plants. 
For example, the specific name of Spigelia marilandica indicates 
that the plant is found in greatest abundance in Maryland, whereas 
it is only occasionally met with in that state. In other cases plants 
are common to a much larger territory than the specific name would 
indicate, as Primus virginiana. The geographical names associated 
with drugs frequently apply to the places from which they are exported 
rather than to the habitat of the plant yielding the drug, as, for exam- 
ple, Para sarsaparilla, which is obtained from a plant growing in the 
upper Amazon region, is shipped to Para, from whence it was formerly 
exported. 

Plants which yield drugs may grow wild, as is most usually 
the case, or they may be cultivated, as those yielding digitalis, 
^nnabis indica and the solanaceous leaves. Plants growing in 
their native countries are said to be indigenous to those regions, 
as Stillingia sylvatica, of the Southern United States; Aconitum 
Napellus, of the mountainous regions of Europe, etc. Plants are 
said to be naturalized when they grow in a foreign land or in another 
locality than their native home. Some of these may have been 
distributed by natural agencies, or they may have escaped from 



xxn INTRODUCTORY 

cultivation, or they may have been introduced with the seeds of 
cultivated plants or with the ballast of ships. 

The term commercial origin applies solely to the drugs them- 
selves, and indicates their commercial source, which may be either 
the country where the plant yielding the drug is grown, or the port 
from which the drug is sent into the marts of the world. English 
hyoscyamus leaves are gathered from plants grown in England; 
Canton rhubarb is the product of plants grown in various parts of 
China, but shipped by way of Canton. 

The official or pharmacopceial titles of vegetable drugs are 
derived from either the generic name of the plant, as gelsemium, 
or the specific name, as ipecacuanha, or they may include both the 
generic and specific names, as viburnum prunifolium, or they may 
be derived from other sources, as opium and sarsaparilla. 

In addition to the botanical names of plants and the pharma- 
copceial titles of drugs, a number of vernacular names and syno- 
nyms are also applied to vegetable drugs, as licorice root for glycr- 
rhiza, prickly ash for xanthoxylum. 

The official or pharmacopceial definition of drugs is given in the 
leading paragraph under each drug in the different pharmacopoeias, 
and includes the botanical origin as well as the name of the part of 
the plant yielding the drug; and in some cases other special features 
or requirements are given, as the habitat of the plant yielding the 
drug, the time of collection, mode of preservation, etc. 

The time of the collection of vegetable drugs is of prime impor- 
tance, and, while we may not be able to make extended generalizations, 
still, the following general rules for the collection of various drugs 
may be given : 

(1) Roots, rhizomes and barks should be collected immedi- 
ately before the vegetative processes begin in the spring, or imme- 
diately after these processes cease, which is usually in the fall. 

(2) Leaves should be collected when photosynthesis is most 
active, which is usually about the time of the development of the 
flowers and before the maturing of fruit and seed. 

(3) Flowers should be collected prior to or just about the time of 
pollination. 

(4) Fruits should be collected near the ripening period, i.e., 
when full grown but unripe. 

(5) Seeds should be collected when fully matured. 

The preservation of vegetable drugs is likewise deserving of 
careful consideration, and attention should be given to the influence 
of temperature, moisture, air and light, and the attacks of insects. 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND RULES xxiii 

The temperature of the room or part of the store devoted to the 
storage of dry drugs should not be more than about 25° C, and 
maintained nearly uniform throughout the year. 

Drugs containing volatile principles require to 'be kept in air- 
tight containers, as the herbs of the Labiatse and Composite, and 
wild-cherry bark. Air-tight tin cans are probably the most eco- 
nomical and satisfactory containers for the purpose, and the sug- 
gestion has been made to coat the edges of the cans with melted 
paraffin. Drugs are sometimes stored in wooden boxes or in drawers. 
This method is objectionable, not only because they are more liable 
to deteriorate, but because the odors are communicable from one to 
the other. The storage of drugs in parcels is the most objectionable, 
particularly, as is usually the case, when the different parcels are 
stored together. 

Those drugs that are difficult to dry, as the inulin-containing 
drugs, and some fleshy roots and rhizomes, as Veratrum, are liable 
to become moldy and should be thoroughly dried before placing them 
permanently in containers. 

The preservation of drugs against the attacks of insects is, unfor- 
tunately, generally overlooked. Most drugs are subject to their 
depredations, and are usually attacked by the insects in the larval 
stage. The insects which infest vegetable drugs belong chiefly to 
the Lepidoptera, Coleoptera and Diptera. The Lepidoptera are 
the most destructive, and include the cornmeal moth (Tinea zea), 
which, during its larval (the caterpillar or grub) stage, is known to 
attack aconite, capsicum, ergot, lappa, linseed, rhubarb, taraxacum 
and many other drugs. Among the Coleoptera are various members 
of the Ptinedse, as Ptinus brunneus, Anobium paniceum and Lasio- 
derma serricorne, which attack the spices chiefly, as capsicum, cin- 
namon and pimenta. Chief among the Diptera is Trypeta arnicivora, 
which is sometimes found in the receptacles of arnica flowers. 

For the destruction of these insects and prevention of their attacks 
a number of substances and methods have been employed, the sim- 
plest method of all being to expose the drug to a temperature of about 
65° C. This method is probably the most efficient in not only pre- 
venting insect attacks, but all other forms of deterioration. Camphor 
and tar-camphor have been employed, but it is doubtful if they should 
be used, unless in the case of animal drugs. In some instances, as 
with nutmeg and ginger, the drug is sprinkled in the drying-room, or 
when packed for market, with quicklime. Benzin and carbon disul- 
phide have been proposed, but these are of a disagreeable odor as 
well as inflammable. Ether has been suggested, but it is very vola- 



xxiv INTRODUCTORY 

tile and inflammable. Formaldehyde has been proposed for the 
preservation of orris root. Chloroform and carbon tetrachlor- 
ide are probably the best preservatives that have been proposed. 
A few drops of chloroform or carbon tetrachloride added to a drug 
on placing it in the container will usually prevent it from becoming 
"wormy." The amoun; of chloroform or carbon tetrachloride to 
be used should be about 25 c.c. to 100 cubic feet of drug. To be 
effective the drug should be treated on two separate occasions. 

Commerical Forms of Drugs. — Vegetable drugs are brought into 
market in various forms; they may be crude; that is, more or less 
entire, or in a powdered condition. Crude drugs may be nearly 
entire, as seeds, flowers, fruits, leaves, and some roots and rhizomes; 
or they may be cut or sliced, as in woods, barks, many roots and a few 
rhizomes. They may be more or less matted together, as in chon- 
drus and the solanaceous leaves; or they may be pressed together 
by means of hydraulic pressure, giving the so-called pressed drugs; 
or they are first powdered and then molded into forms, as " rhubarb 
fingers." In some cases the periderm is removed, as in roots (althea), 
rhizomes (zingiber) and barks (tylmus). 

The quality of vegetable drugs is injured by a number of factors, 
of which the following may be mentioned: (1) Lack of knowledge 
or want of care in collecting them; (2) carelessness in drying and 
keeping them; (3) insufficient care in garbling and preparing them 
for the market; (4) inattention in preserving them and storing them; 
(5) accidental admixture in the store, and (6) adulteration and sub- 
stitution. 

The influence which the time of collection has on the quality 
of vegetable drugs may be best shown by a few illustrations. It is 
well known that when the fruits of conium are green they will yield 
over 3 per cent of coniine, but when they become yellow the alkaloid 
diminishes rapidly in quantity, and, therefore, much of the com- 
mercial drug will not yield 1 per cent of coniine. The same thing 
may be said of santonica; when the flower heads are unexpanded 
they will yield over 3 per cent of santonin, but just so soon as the 
flowers mature there is a rapid disappearance of the anthelmintic 
principle. Dealers in insect powder (Pyrethri Flores) know that the 
flowers gathered when they are closed produce the finest and most 
powerful insect powder, worth nearly twice as much as that made 
from the half-closed or open flowers. It may be that the variation in 
quality of some of the commercial aconite is due to improper drying, 
or to the extraction of the active principles; still, there is no doubt 
but that much of the trouble with this drug is due to the variation in 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND RULES XXV 

the time of collection in different countries, as well as to its being 
collected from different species. 

Another factor affecting the quality of vegetable drugs is 
carelessness in drying them and caring for them after they are 
gathered. At one time the Pharmacopoeia specified that some 
drugs should be kept a certain length of time before being used, as 
in frangula andfcascara sagrada. In these instances the results of the 
changes on keeping have been ascertained, and since a similar effect 
may be obtained by heating the bark at 100° C. for forty-eight hours, 
this specification is deemed no longer necessary. 




Fig. 2. — A section of crude drug warehouse of Sharp & Dohme, Baltimore, IVfd. 

In some drugs a sort of ripening process takes place in the drying, 
as in gentian, guarana, vanilla and the solanaceous leaf drugs. In 
still others a marked deterioration takes place if they are placed in 
heaps and allowed to ferment, as in the case of lavender and most 
other drugs yielding essential oils. In the preparation of oil of 
peppermint, the yield of oil is greater and the quality better if the 
plants are allowed to dry and are distilled immediately or soon after. 
On the other hand, the yield of methyl salicylate is greater in the leaves 
of Gaultheria procumbens or the bark of Betula lenta if they are first 
macerated in water for about twelve hours. 

Quite a number of drugs are not infrequently observed in com- 
merce in a moldy condition, as taraxacum, veratrum, aconitum, zing- 



xxvi INTRODUCTORY 

iber and others. The question as to what influence this mold has 
on the quality of the drug has not been decided. 1 

A third cause of inferiority of vegetable drugs is lack of suf- 
ficient care in garbling. This applies to a number of drugs, as 
leaves, with which may be admixed a large number of stems and 
roots; rhizomes and tubers, in which the proportion of stem-rem- 
nants may be excessive, or, as in other cases, the proportion of roots 
to rhizomes may be large. The roots contain much less of the active 
principles, and have been found in cypripedium and hydrastis to the 
extent of 50 per cent of the amount present in the rhizomes. 

A fourth factor influencing the quality of drugs is the manner 
of preservation. While it is generally conceded that most drugs 
deteriorate on keeping, still this depends largely upon the manner 
in which they are kept. Thus, the Pharmacopoeia limits the time of 
keeping of ergot and states how it shall be preserved ; yet a number of 
writers call attention to the fact that, if properly prepared and pre- 
served, the time of keeping may be very much extended. In order 
to preserve ergot, G rover proposed the removal of the oil, and Moss 
found the drug thus treated to retain its therapeutic value for six 
and a half years. Zanon suggests placing the drug in alternate 
layers with sand and keeping it in a closely sealed jar. Others grind 
the fresh ergot and preserve with chloroform in paraffin paper, while 
some first extract the oil from the powder with alcohol or ether. 

Accidental admixture in the store or warehouse depends upon the 
care of the individual, and need not receive attention here. 

The Valuation of Drugs. — In the identification of vegetable drugs 
certain characters are taken into account, such as color, odor, general 
appearance, structure, texture, etc., these at the same time indicating 
in a greater or less degree the qualitative value of the drug. While 
these characters may enable the expert to detect very slight varia- 
tions in quality, and to estimate approximately the value of a given 
drug, still the true value is based upon the amount of the medicinal 
principles or so-called active constituents. The methods employed 
in the valuation of drugs may be grouped as follows: (1) Chemical, 
(2) Physical, (3) Microscopical, and (4) Biological. 

(1) Chemical methods are more generally employed and usually 
involve the isolation and estimation of the active principles. 

(2) Physical methods involve such processes as the determination 
of specific gravity of the drug as of jalap, or the determination of the 
elasticity or measurement of the fibers, as of cotton, and still other 

1 Viehoever, Detection of Mold in Drugs, Foods and Spices, Jour. A. Ph. A., 
1917, 6, p. 518. 



GENERAL PRINCIPLES AND RULES xxvii 

special methods which apply to individual drugs, showing indirectly 
their quality. 

(3) Microscopical methods of valuation may oftentimes be 
employed when other methods fail, as, for example, when foreign 
starches are added to starchy products, as the cereals and spices. 
Microchemical reactions may also be depended upon in some instances 
to indicate the value of a drug, as in strophanthus, where the quality 
of the drug appears to bear a direct relation to the number of seeds 
giving a green coloration with sulphuric acid. The separation of the 
salts of the alkaloids in hydrastis on the addition of sulphuric acid is 
also of value in determining the quality of this drug. 

(4) Biological methods involve the consideration of the effects 
of drugs upon animals or plants. They may be conveniently grouped 
as follows: 1. Effects or influence upon animals, including (a) those 
dependent upon the perceptions or senses of the experimenter or 
tester, as color, taste and odor; (6) those which are physiological or 
pathological. These are usually determined by experiments upon 
insects, frogs, rabbits, guinea pigs, fowls, cats, dogs, fish and even 
upon man. 2. The effect or influence produced upon plants by drugs, 
or solutions of their active principles. For experiments of this kind 
seedlings are usually employed and the effects are based upon the 
amount of growth of the root of the plant in a given time when placed 
in the solution. 1 Some of the lower plants are also used in testing 
the properties of chemicals, which may have a toxic action on the 
protoplast or a plasmolytic action on the protoplasm. 

Drug Collections. — It is important that the student, phar- 
macist and analyst possess a collection of typical drug specimens. 
It is necessary in the study of drugs and also for purposes of identifi- 
cation and comparison. Specimens may be kept in various kinds of 
boxes and bottles, but one of the most satisfactory ways is to keep 
them in type cases, such as are used by printers, the top being cov- 
ered with glass which can be removed. The glass can be kept in 
place by means of long, broad-headed tacks or can be fastened per- 
manently by means of hinges. The frames may be hung on the wall 
or held by means of molding. 

The Study of Drugs may be pursued from a number of viewpoints. 
In an artificial system they may be grouped according to the parts of 
plants from which they are derived, as roots, rhizomes, leaves, etc. 
This method has much to commend it in practice, but unfortunately 
the form of the commercial article is not such that it is always pos- 

1 Kraemer, "Assay of Drugs by means of Living Plants," Amer. Jour. Pharm., 
1900, p. 472; Saylor, Ibid., 1916, p. 8. 



xxviii INTRODUCTORY 

sible to determine whether it should be placed among roots or rhi- 
zomes, leaves or herbs, etc. A second system of arranging drugs is 
according to their important constituents. This may seem to many 
very desirable and enable us to develop a scientific pharmacognosy 
to be used as a basis for a rational pharmacology. Unfortunately 
our knowledge of the chemical constituents of drugs is very meager, 
and in those drugs which have been investigated there may be present 
a number of principles, each one of which serves a useful purpose. A 
third method is to consider the plants yielding drugs according to 
their natural relationship. With our knowledge of the morphology, 
including both organography and the inner structure of such a large 
number of plants, it would seem that this would furnish the best 
system for practical pharmacognosy and be the most stimulating to 
the investigator. In a large number of families we find there are- 
certain morphological characters that are more or less distinctive 
for each. The Composite, for instance, are distinguished by their 
containing inulin. The Labiatse have not only square stems and 
bilabiate calyces and corollas, but typical 8-celled glandular hairs. 
Furthermore, two or more drugs are not infrequently derived from a 
single plant, and the reason for this can be better considered in con- 
nection with the products derived from a single plant than if they are 
placed in widely divergent groups. After many years of experience 
as a teacher and trying out the several methods in class work I 
have come to the conclusion that the natural classification of plants 
is not only the most systematic, but the most effective in practice. 

Literature. — Tschirch, Handbuch der Pharmakognosie, 1912. 

Power, The Aims and Developments of Phytochemical Research. 
Am. Jour. Pharm., 1917, 89, p. 97. 

Lloyd, Plant Textures, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1917, 89, p. 387. 

Ewing and Stanford, Botanicals of the Blue Ridge. Jour. A. Ph. 
A., 1919, 1 p. 169. 

Taylor, The Pharmaceutical Chemist and the Scope of his Work. 
Jour. Indus. Eng Chem., 1919, 11, p. 239. 

Alsberg, Viehoever and Ewing. Some of the Effects of the War 
upon Crude Drug Importations. Jour. A. Ph. A., 1919, 8, p. 459. 

Beal, George D., Chemistry's Opportunity in Pharmaceutical 
Research. Jour. A. Ph. A., 1919, 8, p. 260. 

Kebler, Fraudulent Advertising. Jour. A. Ph. A., 1919, 8, p. 201. 

Power. The Distribution and Characters of some of the odorous 
Principles of Plants. Jour. Indus. Eng. Chem., 1919, 11, p. 344. 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED 
PHARMACOGNOSY 



THALLOPHYTES 

The Thallophytes, while of very great botanical interest, com- 
prise about 100,000 species, yet relatively few are of any economic 
importance. The Algae are chiefly used because of the mucilage that 
they contain and as a source of iodin. A number of lichens con- 
tain important coloring matters. A few of the fungi are used in 
medicine, although a great number of them contain exceedingly toxic 
principles. 

SCHIZOMYCETES OR BACTERIA 

Bacteria and their products are extensively used in medicine, as 
well as in the industries. The preparations, known as serums and 
vaccines are employed as specific cures for certain diseases, and are 
especially valuable in prophylaxis and diagnosis. Their manufac- 
ture requires great skill and special facilities are necessary to produce 
them. Furthermore, they can be manufactured only under govern- 
ment license and inspection. While there are many biological prod- 
ucts used in diagnosis, prevention and treatment, which cannot prop- 
erly be placed under any definite classification, yet for the greater 
part these products may be grouped under two chief classes, vaccines 
and antiserums. 

Vaccines are essentially weakened or modified viruses. The 
general action of vaccines is therefore preventive or prophylac- 
tic and not curative. There are several methods which may be 
employed in modifying or attentuating viruses. The processes 
involve the treatment of viruses in such ways that they may be 
injected into the animal body without danger of producing serious 
pathologic conditions, while at the same time sufficient specific 
infectious qualities must be present to produce mild reactions. The 



2 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

successful vaccine must be attenuated to the point which repre- 
sents a happy medium, and which clearly indicates both safety and 
activity. Some of the more common methods used in attenuating 
viruses are attenuation by passage of the virus through some species 
other than the animal for which the virus is specific (smallpox vac- 
cine); attenuation by drying at constant temperature (rabies vac- 
cine, Pasteur) ; attenuation by growth at a temperature above the 
optimum (anthrax vaccine) ; and attenuation by chemicals. 

Some of the more important vaccines are smallpox vaccine, black- 
leg vaccine, rabies vaccine and anthrax vaccine. 

Bacterial vaccines or bacterins consist of suspensions of young, 
living cultures of specific bacteria which have been killed chemically 
or by the application of moist heat at a temperature slightly above 
their thermal death point. Wright and Douglas first advanced the 
theory of opsonic action and suggested that the subcutaneous injec- 
tion of a given species of bacteria which had been killed, conferred 
to the blood of the treated individual greater opsonic activity towards 
the species of organisms in question. The opsonic activity is ex- 
pressed by the degree of readiness with which the phagocytes destroy 
invading micro-organisms. Bacterial vaccines may be used in the 
form of autogenous or stock vaccines. An autogenous or " personal " 
vaccine is one prepared from a culture of the specific organism iso- 
lated from the patient in question. Stock bacterial vaccines are pre- 
pared from stock cultures of the various organisms. The latter may 
be manufactured and stored until required for treatment. Some of 
the more common bacterial vaccines are typhoid (especially as a 
prophylactic), streptococcus, staphylococcus, streptococcus and 
staphylococcus combined, gonococcus, pertussis, acne, colon, canine 
distemper and equine influenza. 

Tuberculins are preparations made from the human and bovine 
strains of Bacterium tuberculosis and are used both in diagnosis and 
treatment. Koch's Tuberculin (Old) is the concentrated, glycer- 
inated beef bouillon, in which the tuberculosis organism has been 
grown. The active substance of the Tuberculin, which is appar- 
ently an albuminous derivative insoluble in alcohol, is elaborated 
by the organisms during their multiplication. In human, as well as 
in veterinary practice, Tuberculin may be applied as a diagnostic 
agent in various ways. In addition to the hypodermatic injection of 
Tuberculin Old, the methods of Calmette, von Pirquet and Moro 
may be used. Calmette's test consists in the instillation in the eye 
of Koch's Tuberculin Old which has been prepared by precipitating 
and washing the resulting precipitate. Von Pirquet's reaction de- 



BACTERIA 3 

pends upon the cutaneous application of Tuberculin Old, while Moro's 
modification of von Pirquet's method consists in the use of Tuber- 
culin Ointment, which is vigorously rubbed on a small area of the 
skin. A positive reaction is evidenced by the appearance of an 
eruption at the point of application after about twenty-four hours. 
Tuberculin T. R. (tuberculin residuum) is prepared by repeatedly 
centrifugalizing a suspension in water of the dried and ground 
tubercle organisms. Tuberculin B. E. (bacillary emulsion) is com- 
posed of a suspension of crushed or thoroughly ground tubercle organ- 
isms in 50 per cent glycerin solution. Tuberculin T. R. and Tuber- 
culin T. E. are used as therapeutic agents, and are administered 
subcutaneously. 

Antitoxic and antimicrobial serums are prepared from the blood 
of animals which have been immunized by repeated injections of 
specific organisms, in live or dead condition, or by repeated treat- 
ments with specific bacterial toxins. Antiserums may be employed 
in the form of liquid or dried serums or as precipitated globulins. 
The immunity induced by the use of antiserums is passive in nature. 
In other words, the protective material or antibodies are furnished to 
the treated individual ready-made, therefore the immunity which 
follows is relatively temporary. Antitoxic serums consist of those 
serums which are prepared from animals, treated with repeated doses 
of the specific toxins. The antibacterial serums, which are not as 
specific as the antitoxic, are the result of the treatment of the animals 
with increasing doses of the dead, attenuated or live bacteria. The 
important antitoxic serums are the antidiphtheritic and antitetanic, 
while the antibacterial serums are the antigonococcic, antimenin- 
gococcic, antistreptococcic and antituberculic. 

In an interesting work entitled " Prolongation of Life," Metch- 
nikoff advanced the theory that duration of life may be prolonged if 
measures were taken to control intestinal putrefaction. He 
found that there was a widespread popular belief in the advantage of 
a diet consisting largely of sour milk, and that there was a fair parallel 
between unusual longevity and such a diet. He also observed that 
the cause of much sickness and debility was due by reason of gastro- 
intestinal autointoxication. It can be demonstrated by laboratory 
and clinical experiments that the. lactic acid, due to the action of 
Bacillus lactis acidi, in the beverages known as koumys, kefir yog- 
hurt, rapi and buttermilk, tend to inhibit intestinal putrefaction. It 
has been found that the organism causing Bulgarian sour milk is 
especially active in lactic acid production. This organism, known 
as Bacillus bulgaricus, is now prepared commercially on a rather 



4 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

large scale and sold in the form of tablets. The tablets, consisting 
of slowly dried cultures mixed with milk sugar, are taken as such or 
after having been added to sterile milk, thus effecting the souring of 
the same. In addition to tablets of Bacillus lactis acidi and Bacillus 
bulgaricus, a mixture of bacteria and yeast capable of producing 
lactic acid fermentation of milk is sold under the name of " Kefir 
fungi." Carter has made an examination of commercial cultures 
of Bulgarian Bacillus. (Jour. A. Ph. A., 1919, 8 p. 179.) 

Very great interest has been aroused in the manufacture of 
nitrogen-fixing bacteria in cultures for the use of farmers. Prob- 
ably no question is of greater fundamental importance to the agri- 
culturist than the supply of nitrogen to the soil. It has been known 
for very many years that nearly all other plants except the Legu- 
minos^se (clover, alfalfa, soy beans, etc.) rob the soil of its nitrogen 
while plants of this family serve to enrich it in nitrogen, hence they 
have been called " collectors or accumulators of nitrogen." For 
more than a century it was known that the Leguminosa? produced 
nodules or tubercles on their roots which were supposed to be evidences 
of disease in the plants. In 1836 Treviranus found that these nodules 
were normal growths, and in 1865 Woronin discovered in them cells 
that were filled with bacteria. Hellriegel in conjunction with Wil- 
farth carried on a number of investigations and arrived at the incon- 
trovertible conclusion that the production of nitrogen by leguminous 
crops was through the absorption of atmospheric nitrogen and con- 
nected with the development of the nodules on the roots of these 
plants. Beyerinck in 1888 isolated the bacteria and studied them 
and their products in artificial media. The organism found in the 
nodules on the roots of the Leguminosse is a single species of bacillus 
known as Pseudomonas radicola. Prazinowski in 1889 inoculated 
pure cultures into leguminous roots with successful results, and since 
that time very much work has been done by manufacturers to 
supply farmers growing leguminous crops with cultures of nitrogen- 
fixing bacteria which would give them the maximum yield of crops. 
This is particularly important where the leguminous crops are used 
in rotation in a soil where the nitrogen-fixing bacteria are desirable. 

In the brief space allotted in a few pages it is impossible to 
adequately cover even the more important phases of applied bac- 
teriology. Mention cannot be made of many products which are 
based upon the presence of bacteria or which are due to bacterial 
action, neither can a detailed discussion be given relative to many 
industrial operations which depend upon bacterial activity, such as 
the curing of vanilla, the fermentation of tobacco, the manufacture 



ALG.E 5 

of vinegar, the tanning of hides, the ripening of cheese and the retting 
of flax. 

To-day the study of Bacteriology as an applied science is becoming 
so broad that it consists of several special branches, the most impor- 
tant of which are Bacteriology in relation to Disease of Animals and 
Plants, Dairy Bacteriology, Soil Bacteriology, Bacteriology in relation 
to Water Supply and Sewage Disposal, and Household Bacteriology. 



ALG.E 

Nearly all of the Alga? which are of any economic importance are 
included in the marine forms collectively known as seaweeds. Of the 
four principal groups only two, namely, the brown algae (Phaeophyceae) 
and red algae (Rhodophyceae) , yield commercial products. On 
account of their large yield of mucilage quite a number are used 
locally for food purposes. The ash of a number of the kelps, as Fucus, 
Laminaria, etc., still continue to be the source of iodin. A few of the 
kelps have been used in phthisis, their value no doubt being due to 
the iodin content. 

Laminaria. — Devil's Apron. The cylindrical stipes and basal 
portions of the midribs of the fronds of Laminaria digitata and L. 
Clustoni (Fam. Laminariaceae) . The former is a very characteristic 
kelp which is common north of Cape Cod. The fronds are attached 
to the rocks by fibers which are frequently arranged in whorls and 
from which arise a stout and solid stipe, from 3 to 15 dm. in length 
and which is more or less cylindrical below, compressed above and 
free from distinct mucilaginous cavities (muciparous glands) . When 
well developed the stipe projects rigidly above the surface of the 
water at low tide and from which extends the oval or lanceolate 
lamina, which at the summit is split into digitate segments varying 
from 6 to 18 dm. in length and 3 to 9 dm. in width. L. Clustoni is a 
common European form and resembles L. digitata. In the prepara- 
tion of the commercial article the stipes and lower portion of the 
midribs are cut into pieces of convenient length and quickly dried. 
They were formerly used in the manufacture of tents and bougies, 
to which they were well adapted, owing to the fact that the cell walls 
are mucilaginous, so that the stipes increase six-fold upon the absorp- 
tion of water from the parts to which they may be applied. As 
they cannot be sterilized without losing this property, they have 
been replaced by other materials. In a similar way a number of 
other vegetable substances have been used. 



(o 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Description. — In more or less cylindrical or slightly flattened or 
bent pieces of variable length and 10 to 20 mm. in thickness; exter- 
nally, grayish-brown or dark brown, longitudinally furrowed and 
wrinkled; fracture tough, horny; internally, dark brown having a 
slight saline odor and a mucilaginous, slightly saline and bitter taste. 

Inner Structure. — The stipes show two well-differentiated layers, 
an outer one of narrow cells with brownish walls, and a middle por- 
tion consisting of very long hyphse-like cells, with thick, porous, 
mucilaginous walls. The cells contain numerous brown chromato- 
phores, the brown pigment of which is soluble in water, leaving the 
green chloroplasts unaffected. 

Constituents. — About 47 per cent of mucilage; tangic acid 19 
per cent; cellulose 11 per cent; ash 13 per cent, of which two-thirds 
is soluble in water; iodin from 0.06 to 0.11 per cent. The iodin is 
apparently combined in an organic form and is soluble in water, 
alcohol, acetone, alkalies and acids. Tunmann was able by means 
of very clever technique to detect microchemically the presence of 
iodin in 0.001 to 0.002 gm. of Laminaria. Sections of the fronds 
were placed in conjunction with starch upon slides and strong nitric 
acid added, the liberated iodin unites with some of the starch grains, 
staining them a blue color. 

Literature. — Tschirch, Handbuch der Pharmakognosie. 

PILEOPHYCE.E, OR BROWN ALG& 

Fucus. — Bladder Wrack. The entire, dried plant of Fucus ve- 
siculosa (Fam. Fucacese). A common seaweed growing on rocks near 
the coast of the northern countries bordering the Atlantic Ocean. 
The fruiting plants are most active and are collected in autumn, 
although fructification continues during the winter, or may be seen 
to some extent at any time during the year. According to Farlow 
in his monograph on " The Marine Algae of New England," there are 
several varieties of Fucus vesiculosus, depending upon the character 
of the fronds and receptacles. 

Description. — Fronds dioecious, 20 cm. to 1 meter in length; 
dichotomously branching with a distinct midrib throughout; margin 
entire and often wavy, sometimes repeatedly forked or in some 
varieties short or spirally twisted; on either side of the midrib occur 
vesicles containing oxygen and which vary from spherical to ellipsoidal 
in shape. The receptacles, containing either oogonia or antheridia, 
are terminal, swollen, ellipsoidal or oval, often forked; the color when 
fresh, olive-brown becoming blackish-brown on drying; somewhat 



ALG.E 7 

cartilaginous, having a saline odor and a mucilaginous, somewhat 
saline and nauseous taste. 

Inner Structure. — The tissues consist for the most part of a 
pseudo-parenchyma, the cells upon the outer surface of the thallus 
being somewhat smaller and arranged in close tangential rows, 
while those distributed throughout the central portion are hyphse- 
like and with thick mucilaginous walls. The cells contain a brown- 
ish protoplast, the coloring principle of which is soluble in a hydro- 
alcoholic solution. If the material is first treated with a saturated 
solution of sodium chloride and alcohol then added, the chlorophyll 
may be extracted. 

Constituents. — From 22 to 62 per cent of organic substances, con- 
sisting mostly of mucilage (algin) and a peculiar cellulose; 0.5 per 
cent of mannite; 0.1 per cent of a volatile oil, to which its odor is 
partly due; from 3 to 16 per cent of ash, containing both iodin and 
bromin. The ash contains from 0.7 to 1 per cent of iodin. 

Allied Plants. — Fucus serratus, a very common species of Europe 
but very rare on our coast. It grows in deeper water than F. vesi- 
culosa and is easily recognized by the serrated margin of the thallus 
and the absence of bladders. The receptacles are also serrate, con- 
siderably flattened, and acute at the summit. Its composition is 
similar to that of F. vesiculosus. 

A number of other species of Fucus, besides those mentioned 
as well as other Algae, are gathered under the name of kelp off the 
coast of Cherbourg, France, and Glasgow, Scotland, and are used as 
a source for the production of iodin and bromin. 

RHODOPHYCEiE, OR RED ALGiE 

Chondrus. — Irish Moss or Carrageen. The entire plant of 
Chondrus crispus (Fam. Gigartinaceae) , a common red alga found 
along the northwestern coast of Ireland and the coast of Massa- 
chusetts. The plants are collected chiefly during June and July, 
spread out on the beach and bleached by the action of the sun and 
dew, then treated with salt water, finally dried and stored. The 
chief points of collection in this country are 15 to 25 miles south of 
Boston. 

Description. — Consisting of a number of dichotomously branch- 
ing, somewhat enlarged segments, becoming emarginate or two- 
lobed, which arise from a slender, somewhat flattened base about 
one-half the length of the entire thallus; yellowish-white, trans- 
lucent; sometimes with fruit-bodies or sporangia embedded near 



8 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

the summit of the segments; somewhat cartilaginous; having a 
slight saline odor and a mucilaginous, saline taste. 

One part of Chondrus when boiled for ten minutes with 30 parts 
of water yields a solution which gelatinizes on cooling, and is not 
colored blue by iodin test-solution (absence of starch); nor precip- 
itated by alcohol (distinction from true plant gums) ; nor precipitated 
by tannin (distinction from gelatin) ; nor precipitated by lead acetate 
(distinguishing it from pectin). 

Constituents. — From 55 to 90 per cent of carrageenin, a mucil- 
aginous principle which is but slightly adhesive; about 10 per cent 
of proteins, and 10 to 15 per cent of ash, consisting of calcium oxalate 
and compounds of sodium, potassium, magnesium and calcium 
with chlorin, iodin, bromin and sulphur. 

Allied Plants. — Gigartina mamillosa somewhat resembles Chon- 
drus, but it is most abundant north of the region where Chondrus is 
gathered and thus rarely enters commerce in the drug collected in the 
United States. It is not unusual, however, in the imported article, 
and is distinguished by having the sporangia borne on short, tuber- 
culated projections or stalks scattered over the upper portion of the 
segments. 

An artificial gum is prepared by adding starch to the mucilage 
of Chondrus, and is said to be a good substitute for acacia, and may 
be employed as a base for fixing colors in fabrics. 

Literature. — Anatomy and Constituents by Tunmann, Apoth. 
Zeit., 1909, p. 151. Morphology and Collection by Kraemer, Amer. 
Jour. Pharm., 1899, p. 479. For illustrations see Kraemer's Applied 
and Economic Botany. 

Agar-agar. — Japan or Chinese Gelatin. The dried mucilaginous 
substance obtained from several species of Gelidium, and Pterocladia 
capillaceum, red algae (Rhodophyceae) growing along the Eastern 
coast of Asia. The algae are collected and prepared in much the 
same manner as Chondrus. The bleached material is then boiled 
with water, strained through a cloth, and the mixture allowed to cool. 
It is finally dried in the sun during rather cold weather. It is used 
to some extent in medicine, but its chief use is in the preparation of a 
solid culture medium which is extensively used in bacteriology. 

Description. — Mostly in bundles, consisting of thin, transparent, 
membranous, agglutinated pieces, 4 to 6 dm. in length and 4 to 8 
mm. in width; externally oyster- white or brownish- white, shiny; 
tough and brittle when dry; odor slight; taste mucilaginous. 

Inner Structure. — A granular or mucilaginous mass in which are 
imbedded the frustules of one or more diatoms, those of Arachnoidis- 



DIATOMS 9 

cus Ehrenbergii, being especially characteristic and are disk-shaped, 
from 0.100 to 0.200 mm. in diameter. Through this mucilaginous 
matrix there are small swollen aggregates of starch grains of some of 
the Floridese. In poorer specimens of Agar-agar the fragments of 
diatoms and spicules of sponges are rather numerous. 

Powder. — Pale buff in color and consisting of angular fragments 
which when mounted in water are transparent, more or less granular 
and striated. It also shows masses of swollen starch grains, frus- 
tules of diatoms, and spiculse of sponges mentioned above. 

Constituents. — About 65 per cent of a mucilaginous substance 
(Gelose) yielding galactose on hydrolysis and mucic acid on ox- 
idation; about 6 per cent of nitrogen-containing substances; 3.5 
per cent of cellulose; not more than 5 per cent of ash; and about 22 
per cent of water. 

Agar-agar is insoluble in cold water, but if 1 part of Agar-agar be 
boiled for about ten minutes with 100 parts of water it yields a stiff 
jelly upon cooling. A solution made by boiling 0.100 gm. of Agar- 
agar in 100 c.c. of water, upon cooling should not yield a precipitate 
with a solution of tannic acid (absence of gelatin), and not give more 
than a slightly reddish or reddish- violet color upon the addition of an 
iodin solution. 

Literature. — Tschirch, Handbuch der Pharmakognosie ; Takao, 
Jour. Pharm. Chim. 1917, 15, p. 175. 

BACILLARIACE^E, OR DIATOMS 

Terra Silicea. — Siliceous Earth, Kieselguhr, Infusorial Earth. 

This occurs in natural deposits which are mined and usually calcined 
to destroy the organic matter, after which it is washed and dried. 
The article used in pharmacy is further purified by boiling with 
diluted hydrochloric acid, washing and calcining, and is known as 
Terra Silicea Purificata. 

Description. — Purified siliceous earth is a very light and fine 
powder, odorless, and of an oyster-white color. It is insoluble in 
water, and upon boiling with distilled water and filtering, the filtrate 
should be colorless and neutral to litmus paper. It should be prac- 
tically free from any carbonates or sulphates and contain not more 
than a trace of iron. 

Inner Structure. — While siliceous earth consists almost entirely 
of the frustules of diatoms yet they may be variously preserved in 
different samples. In some specimens a large number of nearly per- 
fect forms may be discerned, whereas in others they are for the most 
part broken up. It will be interesting to determine the relative 



10 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



decolorizing and clarification value of different specimens depending 
on the various forms of diatoms present and their condition. 

The forms of diatoms present may be readily studied in mounts 
made with water or solutions of hydrated chloral. In special cases 
the material may be cleared for microscopical examination by first 
thoroughly mixing it with nitric acid and then adding a crystal of 




Fig. 3. — Some common forms of diatoms found in Diatomaceous earth. A, a 
species of Cymbella; B, Tabellariafloccolsa; C, another species of Tabellaria; 
D, two views of Navicula viridis; E, Navicula Phoenecenteron ; F, Navicula 
lacustris; G, Synedra Ulna; H, several frustules of a Navicula; J, Gom- 
phonema geminatum; K, a species of Stauroneis; L, Epithemia Hynd- 
mannii; M, some frustules of Epithemia; N, Pinnularia Brebessonii; O, 
Eunotia diodon; /, fragments of broken diatoms. — rldentified by Chas. 
Boyer, drawn by W. F. Haase. 



potassium bichromate. The mixture is then gently heated and the 
reaction allowed to continue for ten or fifteen minutes. The acid 
solution is then carefully decanted and the residue washed repeatedly 
with distilled water until practically free from acid. In some cases 
the diatomaceous material is boiled with solutions of potassium 



FUNGI 11 

hydroxide or sodium hydroxide, but great care must be exercised, as 
otherwise the markings are destroyed. 

In making microscopic examinations it is important that the 
diatoms be uniformly distributed. This can be accomplished by 
placing a small quantity of the material in a 1- or 2-drachm homeo- 
pathic vial and nearly filling with water. The mixture is vigorously 
shaken, a small quantity is removed, transferred to another vial 
containing distilled water, and after vigorously shaking the mixture 
remove about 10 minims and place upon a slide. The excess of 
water is allowed to evaporate, the slide passed through a flame two 
or three times and the material mounted in Canada balsam. Of 
course examinations can be made direct in water. In the identifica- 
tion of the various genera and species it is necessary to bear in mind 
that there are two and sometimes even three views which may be 
obtained of the same diatom. Some of the common forms of diatoms 
occurring in commercial Siliceous Earth are shown in Fig. 3. 

FUNGI 

The fungi comprise a multitude of lower plants of quite diverse 
structure. They are distinguished by the fact that they do not 
produce chloroplastids and hence are either parasitic or saprophytic. 
It has been estimated that the several groups comprise about 65,000 
species. The economic relations of the Fungi are of great impor- 
tance, causing as they do considerable depredation to both animal and 
plant life. Some few are edible and are even cultivated for this pur- 
pose. Others are exceedingly toxic and not infrequently gathered 
with some of the edible forms. Relatively few are used in medicine, 
and of these Ergot is official in nearly all of the Pharmacopoeias. 

Ergota. — Ergot of Rye. The sclerotium of Claviceps purpurea 
(Fam. Hypocreacese), a fungus having two distinct periods in its life 
history — an active and a resting stage. During the latter it forms a 
compact mycelium, or sclerotium, which replaces the flowers and 
grains of rye. Ergot is picked by hand from the ears of rye, or it is 
separated after the threshing of the rye ; it is carefully dried, and pre- 
served against the attacks of insects by the use of small quantities 
of carbon-tetrachloride or chloroform. It deteriorates with age, 
particularly when powdered, and is not considered so valuable after 
one year. Various methods have been proposed for preparing the 
drug so as to preserve its medicinal properties for a longer period of 
time. Grover proposed the removal of the oil and Moss found the 
drug thus treated to retain its therapeutic value for six and a half 



12 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

years. Zanon suggests placing the drug in alternate layers with 
sand and keeping it in a closely sealed jar. Others grind the fresh 
Ergot and preserve with chloroform in paraffin paper, while some 
first extract the oil from the powder with alcohol or ether. Russia, 
Spain and Germany furnish the chief part of the commercial supply, 
the Russian drug being considered the most active. 

Spanish Ergot usually consists of large grains, having a fine appear- 
ance, but is not so active as that from the other countries mentioned, 
and contains considerable starch. 

Description. — Sub-cylindrical, tapering toward but obtuse at 
both ends, somewhat curved, 2 to 4 cm. long and about 3 mm. thick; 
externally purplish-black, longitudinally furrowed, occasionally 
transversely fissured, one end with the whitish remains of mycelial 
threads, fracture short; internally whitish or pinkish-white, sections 
somewhat triangular or two-lobed; odor peculiar, heavy, increased 
by trituration with potassium or sodium hydrate solution; taste 
oily and disagreeable. 

Inner Structure. — An outer portion consisting of small violet- 
colored cells, the color of which is changed to blood-red upon the 
addition of sulphuric acid and is soluble in solutions of the alkalies 
producing a violet color. The rest of the sclerotium consists of 
nearly colorless thin-walled hyphse which contain numerous globules 
of fixed oil. 

Powder. — Grayish-brown; consisting for most part of thin-walled 
hyphse, containing numerous globules of fixed oil which are liberated 
in mounts of solutions of hydrated chloral or sulphuric acid, which 
reagents also produce a reddish or rose-purple color in the powder. 

Constituents. — The constituents of Ergot have been the subject 
of considerable investigation, and owing to the fact that the older 
investigators worked with mixtures rather than pure principles there 
has been some confusion in connection with the same. It contains 
at least two alkaloids and a series of active amines. 

Ergotoxine or hydroergotinine is an amorphous alkaloid, insol- 
uble in water and petroleum benzin, sparingly soluble in ether and 
readily soluble in most other organic solvents. It exists naturally 
in Ergot, is readily soluble in cold alcohol and consequently occurs 
in alcoholic extracts of Ergot. It is soluble in dilute solutions of 
sodium hydroxide. The salts form colloidal solutions with water, 
but they are precipitated by electrolytes (salts of mineral acids). 
It has a characteristic action on the cock's comb and is concerned 
in the uterine and vascular effects. It is rather unstable and by loss 
of water changes into its lactone, the second alkaloid of Ergot. 



FUNGI 13 

Ergotinine or Ergotine is a crystalline alkaloid and while soluble 
in nearly all of the solvents for Ergotoxine it differs from this alka- 
loid in being only sparingly soluble in cold alcohol, and the solutions 
of its alkalies are partly converted. Its physiological action is rather 
weak. The name Ergotine is applied to a variety of pharmaceutical 
extracts which are generally prepared in such a way that they con- 
tain mainly the amines and relatively little of the alkaloid. 

Para-hydroxyphenylethamine is closely related to epinephrine 
in structure and action. It is mainly responsible for the pressor 
effect, and is not concerned in the uterine action. 

Beta-iminazolylethylamine (4-meta-aminoethylglyoxaline), lowers 
the blood-pressure, and stimulates the excised uterus power- 
fully. 

A number of other aromatic amines occur casually, such as agma- 
tine (guanidobutylamine), which has a weak stimulant action on the 
excised uterus, isoamylamin, etc. 

These aromatic amines are also produced in the putrefaction 
of meat and in the intestinal tract, and have been prepared syn- 
thetically. They are derived from the amido-acids by the elimina- 
tion of carbon dioxide; para-hydroxyphenyl-ethyl-amine from 
tyrosine; beta-iminazolyl-ethyl-amine from histidine; agmatine 
from arginine; isoamylamine from leucine. 

It will be seen that several of the constituents exert uterine actions, 
and it is not yet known which of these is the most important in the 
effects of the crude drug. The galenic preparations vary in composi- 
tion according to the solvent used. The alcoholic fluid extract prob- 
ably owes its activity mainly to ergotoxine; the aqueous preparations, 
including the solid extracts and " ergotines," owe theirs probably 
to the amines, particularly to histamine. The isolated principles 
have not been used sufficiently for it to be said whether or not they 
can take the place of the natural mixture. 

All ergot preparations, especially those containing water, deteri- 
orate with age. It would, therefore, be of advantage to standardize 
the ergot preparations. Because of the complex composition, no 
satisfactory chemical assay has been devised. Different methods of 
bio-assay have been proposed ; but because of the multiplicity of the 
actions, it is not certain how perfectly these tests reflect the thera- 
peutic efficiency of the drug. The cock's comb method is the most 
widely employed. It has at least a negative value, for samples which 
do not respond to this test may be considered worthless. 

Allied Plants. — Ergot is also found on other cereals, as wheat, 
barley and rice and wild grasses, as quack grass (Triticum). 



14 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

To Remove Ergot in Rye. — Johnson and Vaughan give a method 
of separation based on the fact that the grains of ergot are lighter 
than the sound rye. Their method is as follows: Make a salt brine 
of about 20 per cent strength. This can be done by dissolving 40 
pounds of common salt in 25 gallons of water, or in that proportion. 
Have this solution in a tub, barrel, or other suitable container. 
When the salt is well dissolved pour in the rye slowly and stir vigor- 
ously at the same time. It is a job for two men. The ergot and 
light seeds will rise to the top and the sound kernels will sink to the 
bottom. Skim off the ergot or add rye until the solution rises and 
runs over the side of the tub, carrying with it the ergot, when assisted 
b} r hand or skimmer. If the ergot does not float, strengthen the solu- 
tion by adding more salt and stirring until it dissolves. Grain in dif- 
ferent stages of dryness will require a slightly different strength of 
solution. 

A good arrangement is to have two tubs or half-barrels, one set 
above the other, so that the overflow containing the ergot will fall 
into the lower tub. Cover this lower tub with cheese cloth to catch 
the ergot and let the brine run through so that it may be used over 
again. With the addition of more salt to replace that which sticks 
to the kernels, the solution is good as long as it lasts. When vigorous 
stirring brings up no more ergot, pour off or drain off the solution. 
Then rinse at once with fresh water to remove the salt. This wash - 
ing is necessary to prevent injury to germination and to allow the 
wet grain to dry more readily. 

Air drying is quickly and easily accomplished if the wet grain is 
spread thinly on a clean floor or canvas and shoveled over a few times. 
The clean rye may be used for any purpose desired without any fear 
that it will carry the disease. 

Ustilago. — Corn Smut. — The fungus, Ustilago Maydis (Fam. 
Ustilaginacese), occurs upon the stem and flowers of the Indian corn 
(Zea Mays) and was formerly official. 

Description. — It occurs in irregular, somewhat cylindrical or 
globose masses from 10 to 15 cm. in diameter, consisting of a whitish 
membrane, becoming dark with age, and a brownish-black mass of 
spores, which are nearly spheroidal and about 0.007 mm. in 
diameter. The drug has a heavy odor and a disagreeable taste. 
Ustilago should be carefully dried and not kept longer than one year. 

Powder. — Grayish-brown; nearly spheroidal spores about 0.007 
mm. in diameter; little or no foreign substances. Spores of Coprinus 
comatus, blackish and ellipsoidal, about 0.005 mm. to 0.010 mm. in 
diameter. Spores of Agaricus campestris more brownish than those 



FUNGI 



15 




Fig. 4. Original packages of Ergot imported from Russia. After a photograph 
by Parke, Davis & Co. 



16 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



of corn smut, ovoid and about 0.005 mm. to 0.007 mm. in 
diameter. 

Constituents. — Corn Smut contains a crystallizable alkaloid, 
ustilagine, which is soluble in water and alcohol and forms crystalline 
salts; from 0.5 to 5.5 per cent of a crystallizable acid substance, 
maizenic acid, which resembles sclerotic acid; about 1.5 per cent of a 
volatile base resembling trimethylamine; 2.5 to 6.5 per cent of a 
dark brown fixed oil, insoluble in alcohol and having the odor of the 
drug; about 8 per cent of two resins, one being soluble in alcohol and 




Fig. 5. — Polyporus officinalis Fr., showing the annular increments and at the 
basal portion the numerous characteristic small pores. It grows on the 
larch trees of Europe and Asia, which countries furnish the commercial 
article. It is also found on the larch, pine and spruce trees of Michigan 
Montana, California, and British Columbia. Some specimens are quite 
large and weigh as much as 15 pounds in the dry state. After Hennings in 
Engler and Pranti's "Die naturlichen Pflanzenfamilien." 



the other in ether; 3.75 per cent of a non-reducing sugar which crys- 
tallizes in needles, and yields 4.5 per cent of ash. 

Agaricus. — White Agaric, Larch Agaric. — The dried fungus 
Polyporus officinalis (Till.) Fries (Fam. Polyporacese). (Fig. 5.) 
The commercial supplies are obtained from the mountainous regions 



FUNGI 



17 



of Southern Europe and Siberia, the product being collected from 
larch trees, and deprived of the firm outer rind. 

Description. — In light spongy, irregular pieces; 8 to 14 cm. in 
diameter; externally yellowish-white to yellowish-brown and showing 
at places the characteristic porous surface so common in the genus; 
easily cut, having a corky texture; internally whitish or light brown 
with yellowish striations and sometimes a smooth shiny surface, 
occasionally with pieces of larch wood imbedded; odor aromatic; 
taste slightly aromatic, acrid and intensely bitter. 

Inner Structure. — Consisting mostly of numerous ramifying 
thin-walled hyphse, containing occasionally one or more peculiarly 




<^ 



Fig. 6. — Sublimate crystals obtained upon heating small quantities of powdered 
Polyporus officinalis. The crystals resemble those of Agaricinic acid. 
The sublimate consists first of slightly colored globules, in which on drying 
there separates needles or needle aggregates and in some cases large plates, 
which are strongly polarizing and show extinction parallel with the long 
axis. — After Tunmann in Apoth. Zeit., 1914, p. 120. 



shaped structures resembling branching bast fibers which grow out 
from the mycelium and numerous resinous masses in the knotted 
hyphse in which the activity of the drug resides. Upon heating a 
small quantity of drug or powder under conditions so as to catch the 
sublimate upon a slide it will be found that characteristic crystals of 
agaricinic acid have been deposited. (Fig. 6.) 



18 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Constituents. — About 50 per cent or more of resin consisting 
of 3 or 4 resinous substances; a — resin consisting of a red- 
dish, bitter and pungent principle. $ — resin or agaricinic acid, 
which is the most important principle. It occurs in yellowish 
crystals which are slightly soluble in water and ether and very 
soluble in boiling water or hot alcohol. 7 — resin is amorphous and 
is present from 3 to 4 per cent; 6 — resin being a soft resin and in 
small quantities; it also contains a fatty substance, mannit, a 
nitrogenous substance, tannic acid, phosphoric acid, malic acid, 
tartaric acid and oxalic acid. The cellulose varies from 10 to 30 
per cent and the ash from 1 to 2 per cent, being particularly high 
in phosphorus. 

Uses. — Polyporus and agaricinic acid are official in several of 
the foreign Pharmacopoeias and used because of their anti-diaphoretic 
properties, being fully equal to atropine in the effect of suppressing 
dermic action. 

Literature. — Schmieder, Arch, der Phar., 1886, p. 641; Tun- 
mann, Apoth. Zcit, 1914, p. 120. 

POISONOUS FUNGI 

On account of ths high protein content in some of the edible 
Fungi, varying from 20 to 60 per cent in the dried material of 
Agaricus campestris, considerable interest has been shown, especially 
in foreign countries, in teaching their citizens the food value of 
mushrooms. In this country there are quite a number of persons 
who make it a practice to gather edible mushrooms and each year 
there are numerous cases of poisoning reported through the news- 
papers. This practice will continue and the pharmacist will be 
frequently called upon to identify the species which has been the 
cause of poisoning. A very excellent Bulletin has been prepared 
by Flora W. Patterson and Vera K. Charles of the Bureau of Plant 
Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, entitled " Mushrooms 
and other Common Fungi." Some of the most common poisonous 
fungi which are described in this publication are the following: 

Amanita Mtjscaria. — The Fly Amanita. — (Very poisonous.) 
Cap globose, convex, and at length flattened at maturity margin 
sometimes slightly striate; flesh white, sometimes yellow under the 
pellicle; remnants of the volva persisting as scattered, floccose, 
or rather compact scales, color subject to great variation, ranging 
from yellow to orange, or blood-red, gills white or yellowish, free 
but reaching the stem; stem cylindrical, at first stuffed, later 



FUNGI 



19 



hollow, upper part torn into loose scales; bulb prominent, generally 
marked by concentric scales forming irregular ridges; ring typically 
apical, lacerated, lax, large. 

Cap 8 to 14 cm. broad, stem 10 to 15 cm. long. (Fig. 7.) 
A. muscaria may be found during the summer and fall, occurring 
singly, or in small associations, or in patches of considerable size. It 
grows in cultivated soil, partially cleared land, and in woods or road- 
sides. It does not demand a rich soil, but rather exhibits a preference 
for poor ground. The color is of an exceedingly variable character, 
the plants being brighter colored when young and fading as they 




Fig. — 7. The Fly Amanita (Amanita muscaria), a very poisonous fungus, which 
has been responsible for many deaths and numerous cases of severe illness. 
It is found during the summer and fall growing in partially cleared land and 
in woods and roadsides. The flesh is white, the upper portion or cap is 
convex, becoming at maturity flattened, and marked by scattered, floccose 
or rather compact scales, varying from yellow to orange or red in color. 
The stem is cylindrical, marked by a ring at or near the middle portion and 
a prominent bulb at the base. — After V. K. Chestnut, Bureau of Plant Indus- 
try, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



mature. The European plant possesses more gorgeous colors than 
the American form. 

This is a very poisonous species, and it has been the subject of 
many pharmacological and chemical investigations. Its chief 
poisonous principle is muscarine, although a second poisonous 



20 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

element is believed to be present, as atropine does not entirely 
neutralize the effect of injections of A. muscaria in animals. 

This species has been responsible for many deaths, and numer- 
ous cases of severe illness have been caused by persons mistaking 
A. muscaria, the poisonous species, for A. csesarea, the edible species. 
While typical specimens of these two species possess distinguishing 
characters, it is recommended to shun all Amanita?. 

In Siberia, Russia, the natives make several uses of A. muscaria. 
Preserved in salt it is eaten, though probably more as a condiment 
than as a main article of diet; a decoction is popular as an intoxicant 
and deaths are reported upon good authority as resulting from a 
" muscaria orgy." 

Amanita Phalloides. — Death Cup. — (Deadly poisonous.) Cap 
white, lemon, or olive to umber, fleshy, viscid when moist, smooth or 
with patches or scales, broadly oval, bell shaped, convex, and finally 
expanded, old specimens sometimes depressed by the elevation of the 
margin; gills free, white; stem generally smooth and white, in dark 
varieties colored like the cap but lighter, solid downward, bulbous, 
hollow, and attenuated upward; ring superior, reflexed, generally 
entire, white. 

The large, free volva, its lower portion closely adherent to the 
bulb, and the large ring are of assistance in distinguishing this 
species. 

Cap 7.5 to 10 cm. broad; stem 7.5 to 12.5 cm. long. (Fig. 8.) 

This species and its forms are subject to great variation in color, 
ranging from white, pale yellow, and olive to brown. A. phalloides 
is a very cosmopolitan plant and one of very common occurrence. 
It is the most dangerous of all mushrooms, for no antidote to over- 
come its deadly effect is known. It exhibits no special preference as 
regards habitat and is found growing in woods or cultivated land from 
summer to late autumn. When fresh it is without scent, but a pecu- 
liarly sickening odor is present in drying the plants. 

Amanita Verna. — Destroying Angel. — Cap white, smooth, viscid 
when moist, convex when expanded, margin even; gills free and 
white; stem stuffed, or hollow in age, bulbous, sheathed at the 
base by the membranous volva; ring reflexed, forming a wide 
collar. 

By most authorities Amanita verna is considered a mere form of 
A. phalloides, as it has no constant morphological characters and is 
only separated by the pure white color and its generally more slender 
form. Because of its exceedingly poisonous nature it is popularly 
known as the " destroying angel" 



FUNGI 



21 




Fig. 8. — Death Cup (Amanita phalloides) . This is probably the most toxic 
of all mushrooms and is of very common occurrence. It is usually found 
during the summer and autumn and may be found in woods or in cultivated 
lands. The upper portion or cap varies in color from white, pale yellow, 
olive to brown. The gills are white, as is also the stem, the latter having 
a reflexed ring at the upper portion and a bulb at the lower part. When 
fresh it is nearly odorless, but on drying has a sickening odor. — After Patter- 
son and Charles, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



22 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Lepiota Morgani— Green Gill.— Cap fleshy, globose when young, 
on expansion plane or slightly depressed, not umbonate, white with 
a yellowish or brownish cuticle, which breaks up into scales except 
in the center; flesh white, changing to reddish or yellowish on being 
cut or bruised; gills close, lanceolate, remote, white becoming green; 
stem firm, smooth, hollow, suHbulbous, tapering upward, white with 
brownish tinge; ring large, movable. 

Cap 12.5 to 22.5 or even 30 cm. broad; stem 15 to 22.5 cm. long, 
3 to 16 mm. thick. 

Great care should be taken to avoid this species. Many instances 
of poisoning are well substantiated, and extreme inconvenience and 
serious illness have resulted from eating very small pieces of the 
uncooked mushroom. The gills are slow in assuming the green tinge 
characteristic of this species, but after being allowed to remain in 
ordinary room temperature the color is quite noticeable. This 
fungus occurs mostly on grassy places, such as lawns and parks, dur- 
ing the summer months, frequently forming large " fairy rings." 

Clitocybe Illudens. — Cap fleshy, convex or expanded, then 
depressed, sometimes with a small umbo, saffron yellow, in age 
becoming sordid or brownish; gills broad, distant, unequally decur- 
rent; stem solid, firm, smooth and tapering toward the base, ascend- 
ing, curved, rarely erect, color same as cap. 

Cap 10 to 15 cm. broad; stem 12.5 to 20 cm. long. 

This is a very striking fungus both on account of its color and the 
large clumps it forms about stumps or decaying trees. It is often 
irregular in form, from the crowded habit of growth. On account of 
the phosphorescence which renders it conspicuous at night, it is 
commonly known as the jack-o'-lantern. While not considered 
poisonous, it produces illness and is to be carefully avoided. It 
may be found from August to October. 

Lactarius Fumosus. — Cap convex, plane or slightly depressed, 
snuff brown or coffee-colored, dry glabrous or pruinose, very smooth, 
margin entire or sometimes wavy; flesh white, changing to reddish 
when wounded; gills subdistant, adnate, or slightly decurrent, white 
then yellow, becoming pinkish or salmon where bruised; stem nearly 
equal or slightly tapering downward, stuffed, then hollow, colored 
like the cap. 

Cap 5 to 7.5 cm. broad; stem 4 to 6 cm. long, about 12 mm. thick. 

This species varies considerably in size, color, and closeness of 
the gills. The distinguishing features for field identification are the 
coffee-colored cap and the changeable color of the flesh and gills. 
Its use should be strictly avoided, as it closely resembles Lactarius 



FUNGI 23 

fuliginosus, a poisonous species. These two species, L. fumosus and 
L. fuliginosus, are sometimes considered identical. 

Lactarius Torminosus. — Cap convex, then depressed, surface 
viscid when young or moist, yellowish red or ochraceous with pink 
shades, margin involute when young, persistently tomentose hairy; 
gills crowded, narrow, often tinged with yellow or a flesh color; stem 
cylindrical or slightly tapering at the base, hollow, whitish. 

Cap 5 to 9 cm. broad; stem 3.75 to 7.5 cm. long, 8 to 16 mm. 
thick. 

According to some authors this species is injurious only when 
raw. It is cooked and eaten in Sweden. In Russia it is enjoyed 
dressed with oil and vinegar or it is preserved by drying. 

Russula Emetica. — Cap oval to bell-shaped, becoming flattened 
or depressed, smooth, shining, rosy to dark red when old, fading to 
tawny, sometimes becoming yellow, margin finally furrowed and 
tuberculate; flesh white, but reddish under the separable pellicle; 
gills nearly free, somewhat distant, shining white; taste very acrid; 
stem stout, spongy-stuffed, fragile when old, white or reddish. 

Cap 7.5 to 10 cm. broad; stem 6 to 10 cm. long. 

Russula emetica is a handsome plant of wide distribution found 
during summer and autumn on the ground in woods or open places. 
Although some enthusiastic mycophagists testify to its edibility, it is 
best to consider the species poisonous. 

Pantjs Stipticus. — Bitter Panus. — Cap pale cinnamon to grayish, 
kidney shaped, scurfy, tough; gills not decurrent, thin, narrow, 
crowded, connected by veins; stem short, lateral, solid, ascending 
pruinose. 

Cap 12 to 25 mm. broad. 
This little species is common on stumps, shriveling in dry and 
expanding in wet weather. It is characterized by a pronounced 
astringent taste, which is very unpleasant in its effect on the mouth 
and throat, and is considered poisonous. 

Constituents. — The toxic principles of a number of the poisonous 
fungi have been studied. They belong to several distinct classes, 
(a) In some cases the toxic principle is an alkaloid as muscarine, being 
the active principle of Amanita muscaria. It is an alcohol-soluble 
crystalline substance and usually classed with the ammonia bases. 
It has been prepared synthetically by the oxidation of choline, but 
the artificial body does not produce quite the same symptoms and 
it is easily decomposed. Muscarine is physiologically neutralized 
by atropine and this alkaloid is therefore used as an antidote in cases 
of poisoning by Amanita muscaria. 



24 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

(b) The toxicity in other cases is due to a very sensitive glucoside 
which has the property of dissolving the red blood corpuscles. It is 
found in Amanita phalloides and is so powerful that even in a dilution 
of 1 in 125,000 it is still operative upon the red blood cells of ox blood. 
Abel and Ford have given it the name of Amanitahemolysin and have 
found that it is destroyed by heating to 70° C. and by the action of 
digestive ferments. Ford has been able to prepare an anti-poison or 
an anti-hemolysin, the action of which is to completely neutralize 
the blood-laking properties of this glucoside. 

(c) A third class of principles have been isolated and these belong 
to the group of bacterial toxins. Their real nature is unknown, but 
they have been thus classified by Ford by virtue of their causing 
characteristic lesions in animals after a definite latent period. The 
best known of these is Amanita-toxin, which is probably the most 
toxic principle known and occurs in Amanita phalloides. It is the 
cause of death when this fungus is eaten. 

(d) In other fungi the active principle is in the nature of an acid. 
The one most carefully studied is the agaricinic acid occurring in 
Polyporus officinalis. In Helvella amara, fungus used in medicine 
in Cochin China, the active principle is helvellic acid. Kobert 
states that he has found mushrooms that emitted an odor of hydro- 
cyanic acid and that poisonous symptoms resembling those produced 
by this acid sometimes occur in mushroom poisoning. 

In testing fungi Ford employs the dried fungus and makes an 
aqueous extract, using 6 gms. to 50 c.c. of water. These solutions 
are then diluted to a strength from 1 in 20 to 1 in 200 and sub- 
cutaneously injected into guinea pigs, when, if they are made from 
poisonous fungi they show within twenty-four hours the character- 
istic symptoms and reactions of either acute or chronic intoxication. 

Literature. — Ford, Science, July 23, 1909, p. 98; Kobert, Lehr- 
buch der Intoxikationen ; Blakeslee and Gortner, Biochemical 
Bulletin, 1913, 2, p. 542. 

SACCHAROMYCES, OR YEASTS 

Yeasts are unicellular organisms and are usually regarded as being 
greatly reduced sac-fungi. They belong to the family Saccharomy- 
cetes and of which there are several classes, the principal one of which 
is Saccharomyces, being the organism used in the manufacture of 
beer and compressed yeast. The real Saccharomycetes are capable 
of forming endospores and are further subdivided according to whether 
they ferment maltose, as brewer's yeast, or not. 

The yeast cell is more or less globular or ovoid in form and varies 



YEASTS 



25 



from 0.006 to 0.010 mm. in length (Fig. 9). The wall is very thin 
and encloses a ramifying protoplasm with a single nucleus and numer- 
ous vacuoles. The vacuoles vary in number and the nucleus, in some 
cases, is of considerable size, being one-third of the diameter of the cell. 
As the yeast cell grows one end may enlarge, gradually becoming the 
size of the original cell. Yeast in this condition is said to be budding. 
A short chain of cells may be formed in this way, the individuals sep- 
arating and forming new organisms. Yeast not only multiplies in 
this manner but also by the production of endospores which are 
usually formed when the necessary nutriment is lacking. Certain 




Fig. 9. — Yeast cells in compressed yeast and brewer's yeast. A, budding 
cells; P, protoplasm; G, granules showing molecular motion; M, foreign 
mold; B, bacteria; S, Cassava starch grains in yeast cake. — Drawing by 
Hogstad. 

substances have been found to be essential for the growth of yeast; 
these include sugar, albuminous material or ammoniacal salts, sul- 
phate of magnesia and potassium phosphate. For the study of 
yeasts in the laboratory they may be grown in Pasteur's Solution, 
consisting of potassium phosphate, 2 gm. ; calcium phosphate 0.2 gm. ; 
magnesium sulphate 0.2 gm.; ammonium tartrate 10 gm.; cane 
sugar 150 gm.; water sufficient to make 1000 c.c 



26 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

The action of yeast? upon sugars is to form alcohol and carbon 
dioxide, the former being the important product in the brewing 
industries and the latter for the raising of the dough in bread making. 
This reaction is due to the production of the enzyme zymase. Yeast 
also contains the enzyme known as invertase. In commercial mix- 
tures other enzymes are doubtless present. The use of yeast in 
medicine is due to the collective action of the several enzymes and 
for this purpose both brewer's yeast and compressed yeast are 
employed. The latter is used under the name of Faex Compressa 
and contains besides yeast, starch grains and a few bacteria. Com- 
pressed yeast has a characteristic odor and should be free from molds 
and unpleasant odors. 

LICHENS 

Lichens are a peculiar group of plants being composed oi some of 
the higher fungi which are parasitic upon some oi the green and blue 
Algse. They are oi rather common occurrence upon the barks of 
trees, rocks and some grow upon soil. They consist of a thallus in 
which the algal cells have a more or less definite position. The upper 
portion consists of compact hyphae comprising what is known as the 
cortical layer. Beneath this is the algal layer from which the fungal 
hyphae draw their nourishment. The lower surface is differentiated 
into a cortical layer from which the hyphae are extended in the form 
of rhizoids attached to their substratum. The fruit or sporocarp 
varies, depending upon the fungus entering into the lichen, but the 
apothecium is the most common. Owing to the fact that many 
of them contain lichenin. a carbohydrate resembling starch, a few of 
the lichens have been used as food. While some are of medicinal 
interest, as Cetraria. their chief interest is in the coloring principles 
which they contain and which have been the subject of painstaking 
investigations of 0. Hesse during a great many years. 

Cetraria. — Iceland Moss. — The entire dried plant of Cetraria 
islandica. one of the Ascolichens which is widely distributed over the 
northern pan of both continents. The chief commercial supplies 
are obtained from Scandinavia. Germany. Switzerland and parts of 
Austria. 

Description. — Consisting of a number of somewhat dichotom- 
ously branching, more or less curled, papery, fringed segments. 
5 to 10 cm. long and about 5 mm. wide: upper surface greenish- 
brown, with occasional dark reddish-brown cupular apothecia: 
under surface grayish, with numerous small, whitish, depressed 



LICHENS 



27 



spots; tough when damp, but brittle when dry; odor slight; taste 
mucilaginous and bitter. For illustrations consult Kraemer's 
" Applied and Economic Botany." 

Inner Structure. — Sections through an apothecium show the 
hymenium with their asci each containing 8 ascospores and 2 para- 
physes beneath which is distributed the hypothecium composed of 
fungal hyphse; an algal layer in the middle subtended by a medullary 
layer of loose fungal hyphse and a lower or ventral surface composed 
of several rows of small compactly arranged cells. Tunmann has 
been able to obtain from small pieces of thallus microsublimates con- 
taining crystals of lichenostearic acid. (Fig. 10.) 



O^CPfl^ 





Fig. 10. — Crystals of lichenostearic acid obtained by micro-sublimation of pieces 
of the thallus of Cetraria, not larger than 0.5 cm. square, a, crystals ob- 
tained by sublimation; b, a granular sublimate which was recrystallized 
. from alcoholic solution; c, sublimate treated with sodium carbonate and 
showing crystal aggregates of the sodium ^salt of lichenostearic acid; 
sublimate treated with ammonia giving crystals of the ammonium salt of 
lichenostearic acid. — After Tunmann, Apoth. Zeit.*, 1913, p. 892. 



Constituents. — The principal constituents are lichenin and isolich- 
enin (about 70 per cent), the former of which appears to be inter- 
mediate between starch and cellulose, and is soluble in hot water, the 
solution becoming gelatinous on cooling, but not colored blue with 
iodin; isolichenin (dextrolichenin) somewhat resembles soluble 
starch, being soluble in cold water and giving a blue reaction with 
iodin. The drug also contains 2 to 3 per cent of a bitter crystalline 
principle, cetrarin, which is colored blue with concentrated hydro- 
chloric acid and yields on hydrolysis cetraric acid, which is also 
intensely bitter; 1 per cent of a tasteless, crystalline principle, lichen o- 



28 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

stearic acid; several organic acids, as oxalic, tartaric and fumaric 
(lichenic); about 15 per cent of cellulose; about 3.6 per cent of an 
uncrystallizable sugar; 3.7 per cent of gum; a principle resembling 
chlorophyll, thallochlor, which is unaffected by hydrochloric acid; 
and yields less than 2 per cent of ash. 

The bitter principle in Cetraria may be removed by treating the 
drug with a 1 per cent solution of potassium carbonate at about 60° 
C. for several hours. 

Iceland moss jelly (Gelatina lichenis islandica) is official in the 
German Pharmacopoeia, and is prepared by making a decoction 
of 3 parts of washed cetraria and 100 parts of water, adding 3 parts 
of sugar and evaporating the whole to 10 parts. Dried, saccharated 
Iceland moss, which is official in the French Codex, is prepared some- 
what similarly to the Iceland moss jelly, but the product is evaporated 
to dryness and then powdered. 

Allied Plants. — Usnea barbata and Cornicularia aculeata contain 
a principle resembling lichenin, which on hydrolysis yields glucose. 
Evernia prunastri contains a carbohydrate evernin, which resembles 
lichenin but is dextrogyrate. The following lichens do not contain 
lichenin, but yield carbohydrates which on hydrolysis give little 
or no glucose : Cladonia rangiferina contains 30 per cent of mannose ; 
Stereocaulon pascale and Peltigeria aphthosa yield on hydrolysis 
dextromannose and dextrogalactose. 

Literature. — For illustrations consult Kraemer's Applied and 
Economic Botany; the Microchemistry, Tunmann, Apoth. Zeit., 
1913, p. 892. 

Orchil. — Archil. — A coloring substance obtained by the fermen- 
tation of Roccella tinctoria, R. fuciformis and other lichens. R. 
tinctoria is abundant in the Levant, the Canary Islands and the Cape 
Verde Islands while R. fuciformis is quite common on the islands of 
the Indian Ocean adjoining the African coast. The lichens grow on 
the rocks near the sea and after being cleaned they are ground into a 
pulp with water. They are then treated with some ammoniacal liquid, 
at the present time dilute solutions of ammonia being used, and 
allowed to ferment for nearly a week. As a result of fermentation the 
mother principle, which is colorless, changes to orcinol, which is also 
colorless, and is finally converted into orcein, which produces scarlet 
solutions with either water or alcohol. Orcein is readily soluble in 
alcohol, somewhat soluble in water, and insoluble in ether. It forms 
beautiful lavender-colored solutions with the alkalies. 

Cudbear. — Persio or Red Indigo. — A dried paste obtained in 
much the same manner as orchil and is made from Lecanora tartarea 



FERNS 29 

(Swedish Moss or Dyer's Moss) , a lichen of northern Europe. It may 
also be prepared from the same lichens yielding orchil. The coloring 
principle is apparently orcein. It is largely used as a coloring agent 
for pharmaceutical preparations as well as in dyeing. The com- 
mercial article varies considerably in tinctorial properties, this being 
due to the crude methods of manufacture. 

Literature. — Beringer, Proc. N. J. Pharm. Assoc, 1912; Arny, 
Jour. A. Ph. A., 1913, p. 47; Gardner, Ibid., p. 51. 

Lacmus. — Litmus. — A dried extract obtained by the fermentation 
of lichens yielding orcinol. The process of fermentation is similar 
to that in the preparation of orchil and cudbear, but potassium car- 
bonate is added and the time of fermentation is longer. When the 
color of the solution is of the desired tint it is mixed with calcium 
carbonate or gypsum, molded into small cubes and finally dried. 
Most of the litmus is manufactured in Holland. 

The blue color of litmus is due to an amorphous brownish-red 
substance known as azolitmin. It is a weak base which is soluble in 
water and insoluble in alcohol. Commercial litmus contains several 
other coloring principles. Litmus is chiefly used as an indicator of 
neutrality in pharmaceutical and chemical work. 

ARCHEGONIATES 
FERNS AND FERN-ALLIES 

The Archegoniates, representing the highest group of Cryptogams, 
include the Bryophytes and the Pteridophytes. The latter includes 
the ferns and their allies, viz. : the horsetails and club mosses. From 
a botanical viewpoint, as well as for economic reasons, it is one of the 
most interesting groups of plants. The Pteridophytes are a very old 
group, being first found in the Devonian and attaining their maximum 
development in the Carboniferous age, during which time they 
formed the bulk of the vegetation comprised in the coal-measures. 
The forms existing upon the earth are still very numerous, comprising 
about 5000 distinct species. The chief interest lies in their use as 
ornamental plants. 

Aspidium. — Male Fern. — The rhizome and stipes of Dryopteris 
Filix mas and Dryopteris marginalis (Fam. Polypodiaccese), peren- 
nials (Fig. 11), of which Dryopteris Filix mas is more widely distrib- 
uted, being indigenous to Europe, Asia, North America, west of the 
Rocky Mountains, and in the Andes of South America; while D. 
marginalis is found in the Eastern and Central United States and 



30 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 11. — Leaf and a portion of rhizome of Dryopteris marginalis, the upper 
pinnae (divisions), showing the sori near the margins^ 



ASPIDIUM 



31 



extends north to Prince Edward's Island. The rhizome is collected 
in early autumn, the leaves cut off, leaving the lower portions or 
stipes attached to the rhizomes; the dead portions of the rhizomes 
and the chaff are removed. Usually the drug consists of the stipes 
only, which are separated from the rhizome, the periderm being 
removed (Fig. 12). The drug is carefully dried and preserved and 
should not be used after it loses its green color. 

Description. — Of horizontal or oblique growth, 5 to 15 cm. long 
and 1 to 25 cm. thick, mostly covered with nearly cylindrical slightly 
curved stipe-remnants (Fig. 12), which are about 25 mm. long and 




Fig. 12. — A, B, Dryopteris Filix mas, showing a decorticated stipe and piece 
of rhizome (A), and rhizomes and stipes (B); C, probably the rhizome of 
Osmunda Claytoniana, which is sometimes substituted for Aspidium. 



5 to 10 mm. thick, between which is a dense mass of dark-brown, 
glossy, transparent and soft chaffy scales; internally spongy, pale 
green, becoming brownish with age ; in transverse section showing an 
interrupted circle of about six (D. marginalis) or seven to nine (D. 
Filix mas) groups of fibro-vascular tissue, each of which is sur- 
rourded by an endodermal-like layer; odor slight, taste acrid, 
somewhat bitter and nauseous. 
Inner Structure. — See Fig. 13. 



32 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Powder. — Light brown or light greenish-brown (Fig. 14) ; starch 
grains numerous, ellipsoidal, ovoid, oblong and irregularly shaped, 
varying in length from 0.002 to 0.018 mm.; numerous oil globules 
seen in chloral mounts ; trachea? long and with scalariform and reticu- 
late thickenings, the cells being 0.025 to 0.075 mm. in width. The 
tracheae are colored reddish- violet on the addition of concentrated 
sulphuric acid, the reaction resembling that of lignified cells with 
phloroglucin ; few reddish-brown epidermal cells are present, and 
the strongly lignified cells of the hypodermis resemble the libriform 




Fig. 13. — Transverse section of stipe of Dryopteris marginalis, showing epidermis 
(E), hypodermis (//), endodermis (TV), completely surrounding the vascular 
bundle (V), and which consists of sieve (S), tracheae (T). 



cells in higher plants. Many of the cells of the parenchyma contain 
nuclei which may be differentiated by the use of iodin — green or 
methyl green. 

Constituents. — An active, amorphous substance, filicic acid, 
2 to 8 per cent, being contained apparently in greatest abundance in 
rhizomes collected in autumn, and readily decomposing with the 
formation of an inactive but crystalline anyhdride; and filicic anhy- 
dride (filicin, or so-called crystalline filicic acid). The latter occurs 



ASPIDIUM 



33 



from 19 to 31 per cent in the drug, and may be converted into filicic 
acid by dissolving in alkalies and precipitating with acids. The 
drug also contains from 0.025 to 0.045 per cent of a light yellow volatile 
oil with an intense odor of the drug and an aromatic, burning taste. 
It consists of free butyric and allied acids and hexyl and octyl esters 
of the fatty acid series, ranging from butyric acid to pelargonic. 
From 6 to 7 per cent of a green fixed oil is present, which consists of 
the glycerides of oleic, palmitic, cerotinic and filosymlic acids, the 
latter being volatile. Also filmaron (active); a small amount of a 
bitter principle; about 10 per cent of filixtannic acid; a soft black 
resin and a hard red resin; about 11 per cent of an uncrystallizable 
sugar; starch, and 2 to 3 per cent of ash. 



O°0. 




Fig. 14. — Aspidium: P, parenchyma containing starch grains; S, starch grains; 
T, tracheae; H, hypodermal cells with thickened walls and simple pores; 
C, yellow, thick-walled cells of chaff. 



Allied Plants. — The rhizome of Aspidium spinulosum appears to 
possess properties similar to the official drug; it somewhat resembles 
that of A. Filix mas, but the chaffy scales possess marginal glandular 
hairs and the number of fibrovascular bundles in the rhizome is 
usually but 6 or 7. 

The rootstock of Pteris aquilina (Pteridium aquilinum) contains a 
cyanogenetic anygdalin-like glucoside. (Bot. Abstracts, 1919, 1, 
p. 220.) 



84 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Adulterants. — The rhizomes of other ferns are sometimes sub- 
stituted for those of the true drug. The botanical origin of these 
substitutes is not clear. A very common substitute is shown in Fig. 
12, C, which is derived from Osmunda Claytoniana or a related 
species. It occurs in large pieces with coarse, wiry roots, flattened 
stipes and is free from chaffy scales. 

Adiantum. — Maidenhair or Venus Hair. — The fronds of 
Adiantum pedatum or A. Capillus- Veneris (Fam. PolypodiaceaB). 
These well-known ferns are rather common in Eastern and Central 
tJnited States and are occasionally used in medicine. They are 
among the most graceful and delicate of the North American ferns. 
The rhizomes are horizontal, slender and with blackish roots. The 
leaves are few but well developed in the early part of the summer. 
They consist of long, blackish and shining petioles, pedately branch- 
ing at the summit, first into two recurving, primary forks, and then 
into several spreading divisions, each of which bears numerous 
regularly alternating leaflets. The latter are obliquely triangular- 
oblong, the upper margin being incisely lobed and serrate; the sur- 
face is glaucous and very smooth. The odor is slight; the taste 
being slightly bitter and somewhat astringent. 

Inner structure. — Consult Holm, Merck's Report, 1909, p. 62. 

Lycopodium. — The spores of Lycopodium clavatum, and of 
other species of Lycopodium (Fam. Lycopodiacese) , perennial herbs 
indigenous to Europe, Asia, North America and Central America. 
The spores are obtained from the ripened cones by shaking the fruit- 
ing tops (sporogonia) and the extraneous matter is removed by siev- 
ing. The principal sources of supply of Lycopodium are Germany, 
Russia and Switzerland. 

Description. — A light-yellow, very mobile powder, nearly inodor- 
ous and tasteless, floating upon water and not wetted by it, but sink- 
ing on being boiled with it, and burning quickly when thrown into a 
flame. 

Spores tetrahedral (Fig. 15), from 0.025 to 0.040 mm. in diameter 
with one convex side, and delicately reticulate on the surface. 

Constituents. — About 50 per cent of a deep green odorless, non- 
drying oil with an acid reaction, which consists chiefly of oleic acid, 
with some lycopodic (di-oxy-stearic), palmitic, and myristic acids 
(Rathje, Archiv. Pharm., 246, 1908, p. 699); a small amount of 
phytosterin, and 3 to 8.2 per cent of glycerin. The spores also con- 
tain 5.3 per cent of a nitrogenous substance; about 3 per cent of a 
sugar, and yield about 1 per cent of ash. On heating with a solution 
of potassium hydrate, monomethylamine is liberated, and on macer- 



LYCOPODIUM 



35 



ating the spores in alcohol a part of the alcohol is converted into an 
aldehyde. 

Allied Plants. — The spores of other species of Lycopodium are 
sometimes collected with those of L. clavatum, as fir club moss (L. 
Selago); stiff club moss (L. annotinum); bog club moss (L. inun- 
datum), and the ground pine (L. complanatum) . From the latter 
an alkaloid, lycopodine, has been isolated. A toxic alkaloid, pili- 
ganine, has been obtained from piligan (L. Saururus), growing in 
Brazil. L. polytrichoides, of the Hawaiian Islands; L. rubrum, of 
Venezuela; L. cernuum, of the Tropics, and L. Selago of Europe, 
are also employed in medicine. 




Fig. 15. — Spores of various species of Lycopodium. A, B, reticulated spores 
of Lycopodium clavatum; C, D, spores of L. phyllanthum marked by 
pores; E, F, spinous spores of L. densum; G, H, J, spores of L. inundatum 
with wavy reticulations. — After Pritzel. 



Adulterants. — Lycopodium is sometimes admixed with pine pollen, 
starchy materials, and various inorganic substances, as sulphur, talc 
and gypsum. A recent adulterant of Lycopodium has been found to 
consist of corn starch which had been treated in a special manner 
and then colored with methyl orange. An artificial lycopodium is 
prepared by treating Bordeaux turpentine (galipot resin) at near the 
melting point with dry ammonia, the resulting product being then 
dried and powdered. The fragments are irregular, transparent 
and are detected by means of the microscope, 



36 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



GYMNOSPERMS 

This is an ancient group of plants and was especially predominant 
during the Triassic age. The surviving forms are represented by 
about 450 species and divided into three classes, viz. : Cycads, Con- 
iferae and Gnetaceae. The most important of these are the Coniferae, 
which include the two families Taxaceae and Pinaceae. The latter 
include about 300 species and are especially abundant in the Northern 
Temperate regions of the world. They are mostly resinous trees or 
shrubs and of very great economic importance for timber, ornamental 
purposes, and they also furnish valuable products which are used 
in the arts and in medicine. The Pinacese include pine, spruce, hem- 
lock, fir, larch, the bald-cypress, the redwoods, arbor vitae, and 
juniper. The Araucarias belonging to the Coniferae resemble in 
general habit the pine and are the lofty evergreen trees of tropical 
America and Australia. The Sequoias include the redwood (S. 
sempervirens) and the big tree (S. gigantea), both natives of California 
and are among the most massive of any trees in the world, attaining a 
diameter of 8 meters. They are practically exempt from disease 
and some are estimated to be nearly 2000 years old. Amber, a 
valuable fossil resin, is an exudation from trees of the Pinaceae, that 
formerly grew along the shores of the Baltic Sea, especially in East 
Prussia. 

PINACE.E, OR PINE FAMILY 

Pinus Alba. — White Pine Bark. — The dried inner bark of 
Pinus Strobus (Fam. Pinaceae). P. Stobus, commonly known as 
white pine or Weymouth pine, is the principal timber pine of the 
northern United States and Canada. The bark contains from 8 
to 9 per cent of tannin, but is not usually employed for tanning except 
when other sources of supply are limited. It is collected to a limited 
extent and is popular in the making of expectorant syrups. After 
the outer corky layer is removed it is then dried. 

Description. — In flat pieces usually not more than 3 dm. in length, 
nor more than 12 cm. in width and from 1 to 3.5 mm. in thickness; 
outer surface varying from yellowish-brown to cinnamon-brown and 
not infrequently with silver-white patches of the inner layer of the 
periderm and occasional patches of blackish-brown cork, otherwise 
longitudinally striate with numerous small blisters of oleo-resin cavi- 
ties and large more or less depressed irregular scars; inner surface 
yellowish-brown or dark brown and finely striate; fracture tough, 



PINE FAMILY 37 

fibrous; transverse surface porous, resinous and with yellowish 
groups of bast fibers; odor terebinthinate; taste slightly mucilagin- 
ous, terebinthinate, bitter and astringent. 

Inner Structure. — Bast fibers with non-lignified walls, the cells 
being tabular and tangentially compressed and distributed in radial 
more or less wavy rows throughout the inner bark; secretion cells 
consisting for the most part of mucilage and to some extent of oleo- 
resin or tannin arranged in tangential rows between the bast fibers; 
parenchyma cells containing starch grains, the latter being single or 
in groups, the individual granules from 0.005 to 0.020 mm. in diam- 
eter and varying from spheroidal, ellipsoidal to club-shaped or even 
irregular forms. 

Powder. — Tissues and cell contents described above; lignified 
woody elements few or wanting. 

Constituents. — Alcoholic extract 30 per cent, consisting of 9 per 
cent of tannic acid and the remainder made up mainly of an oleo- 
resin. The bark also contains considerable mucilage and a small 
quantity of coniferin; the latter is usually present in the cambial- 
layer of all of the species of Pinus as well as in other genera of the 
Pinacese. 

Literature. — Bastin and Trimble, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1896, 
p. 28. 

Terebinthina. — Turpentine. — An oleo-resin obtained from 
Pinus palustris and other species of Pinus (Fam. Pinaceae), evergreen 
trees indigenous to the southern United States. The oleo-resin is 
secreted in the sapwood and is obtained by making triangular incisions 
in the bark and wood in the spring; it flows into cavities (or boxes) 
made lower down on the trunk, from which it is dipped into barrels 
or other receptacles. The product of the first year's cutting is of 
superior quality and is known as " virgin " turpentine. It yields 
about 15 per cent of oil of turpentine, while the product of the second 
or third year yields 10 per cent. 

Description. — In yellowish, opaque masses, brittle in the cold; 
lighter internally, sticky and more or less shiny; odor and taste 
terebinthinate. One part dissolved in 5 parts of alcohol gives a 
clear solution having an acid reaction. 

Constituents. — Turpentine consists of 70 to 80 per cent of resin 
and 15 to 30 per cent of volatile oil; it also contains a bitter principle 
and various organic acids, as pinic, sylvic, etc. 

Oil of turpentine is obtained chiefly from the following pines 
growing in the Southern States : Pinus palustris, P. glabra, P. cuben- 
sis, P. echinata and P. Taeda. The important constituent is the 



38 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

hydrocarbon pinene (CioHi 6 ), which, in the oil from some plants, is 
dextro-rotatory, while in that from other plants it is lsevo-rotatory. 
On allowing a moisture-containing oil to stand exposed to the light, 
crystals of pinol hydrate separate out in the course of time. 

Turpentine Substitutes. — A number of inferior substances are 
sold for oil of turpentine. They are decidedly inferior as they have 
no binding capacities nor do they combine with colors. The com- 
position of some of these is as follows: (1) Oil of turpentine 2 parts, 
rosin spirit 1 part, benzin 1 part. (2) Oil of turpentine 1 part, naph- 
tha 1 part, petroleum spirit 2 parts. (3) Oil of turpentine 1 part, 
naphtha 1 part. (4) Petroleum spirit 2 parts, rosin spirit 1 part, 
naphtha 1 part. (5) Oil of turpentine 10 liters, rosin spirit 10 liters, 
benzin 5 liters, rosin 500 gms., sandarac 500 gms. (6) Rosin spirit 
10 liters, naphtha 10 liters, benzin 10 liters, sandarac 250 gms., rosin 
600 gms. 

Allied Plants. — Various other species of Pinus yield an oleo-resin 
resembling turpentine, as Pinus Taeda, a tall tree growing in the 
regions where Pinus palustris is found; the yield of oleo-resin from 
this and other trees is considerably less. Pinus sylvestris, or Scotch 
fir, which is indigenous to the mountains of Europe and Asia and 
extensively cultivated in this country, is the source of much of the 
turpentine used in Europe. 

Bordeaux turpentine is a product resembling American turpen- 
tine, and is obtained from Pinus maritima and other species of Pinus 
growing in Southern France, the resin consisting chiefly, however, 
of the anhydride of pimaric acid. 

Austrian turpentine oil is obtained from Pinus Laricio, and appa- 
rently consists of dextro-rotatory pinene. 

The oil known as French turpentine oil is derived from Pinus 
pinaster, and, while it resembles the American variety, consists 
entirely of laevo-rotatory pinene. 

Pine needle oil is obtained by steam distillation from the leaves 
of Pinus pumilio, a tree of the Tyrolese Alps. It is a colorless oil 
with an aromatic odor and taste, and contains from 5 to 7 per cent 
of bornyl acetate, cadinene, phellandrene, pinene and sylvestrine. 

Pine needle oil is also obtained to a limited extent from the 
Scotch fir (Pinus sylvestris). The German product closely resembles 
the oil obtained from Pinus pumilio, as probably also does the 
Swedish oil, but the English oil is laevo-rotatory. 

Birch tar is the product of the destructive distillation of the 
wood and bark of the white birch (Betula alba). It is chiefly made in 
Russia, has a strong, penetrating odor and does not solidify. It is 



PINE FAMILY 



39 



distinguished from beech wood tar and pine tar in not being com- 
pletely soluble in 95 per cent acetic acid, and is distinguished from 
juniper tar by not being entirely dissolved in anilin and in being col- 
ored greenish with ferric chloride. 

An oily product is obtained in the destructive distillation of 
the wood of the Prickly cedar (Juniperus Oxycedrus), a tree indigen- 
ous to the countries bordering the Mediterranean, and is official as 
oil of cade. It is, a brown, viscid liquid with a tarry odor and 
a pungent, bitter taste. The oil varies in composition and the only 
constituent that has been isolated is the sesquiterpene, cadinene. 
Of the phenols which it contains nothing is known. 




Fig. 16. — Typical view in the Adirondacks, showing the spire-like balsams 
(Abies balsamea) and a single white pine (Pinus Strobus). 



An oil known as kien oil is obtained by the destructive distil- 
lation of the wood of the root of Pinus sylvestris. The oil is prepared 
in Germany, Russia, Finland and Sweden, and consists of d-pinene, 
d-sylvestrine and in addition, in all except the Swedish oil, dipentene 
has been determined. 

Colophony. — Rosin or Resin. — The residue after the distil- 
lation of the crude oleo-resin (or turpentine) of Pinus palustris and 
other species of Pinus (Fam. Pinaceae), evergreen trees indigenous to 
the southern United States. There are two commercial varieties of 
Colophony: (1) one which is amber colored and derived from the 



40 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

oleoresin of trees tapped for the first time; and (2) a yellowish-red 
or reddish-brown variety derived from the oleo-resin of trees that 
have been tapped for a number of years. The former article is pre- 
ferred. 

Description. — Usually in sharp, angular fragments; translucent, 
amber-colored, usually covered with a yellowish dust, hard, brittle 
pulverizable, fracture shiny and shallow-conchoidal; odor and 
taste faintly terebinthinate. 

Rosin has a specific gravity of 1.070 to 1.080, and it is soluble in 
alcohol, ether, benzol, carbon disulphide, acetic acid, fixed and 
volatile oils and in solutions of potassium or sodium hydrate. 

On heating a small quantity of colophony and neutral methyl 
sulphate or neutral ethyl sulphate in a test-tube the mixture assumes 
a rose, then violet and finally a deep violet color. 

Powder. — Pale to dark yellow; irregular fragments, soluble in 
alcohol, forming a straw-colored liquid, which becomes milky-white 
on addition of water; on heating fragments of rosin in water they melt, 
flow together and form a sticky mass. 

Constituents. — From 80 to 90 per cent of an anhydride of abietic 
acid, which, on treatment with alcohol, is changed into abietic acid, 
which latter is crystalline; sylvic acid, which is probably a decom- 
position product of abietic acid; ash, about 1 per cent. 

White rosin, prepared by agitating melted rosin in water, occurs 
in whitish, opaque masses, due to inclusion of air. 

Rosin is not infrequently used as an adulterant of other resinous 
products, as of Burgundy pitch and Venice turpentine. A mixture 
of rosin and oil of turpentine is sometimes substituted for the latter. 

Resins are a class of substances which may be looked upon as 
final products in destructive metabolism. They result from the 
oxidation of oils and allied products and usually accompany them, 
as oleo-resins, gum-resins, etc. They are insoluble in water, solu- 
ble in alcohol, acetone, ether and similar solvents, and burn with a 
yellow flame, forming considerable soot. Several kinds of resins 
are recognized, depending upon the nature and constitution of their 
important constituents : 

(1) Resinolic Acid Resins include those that contain a large 
proportion of oxy-acids, and have been obtained in a crystalline 
condition, as abietic acid in colophony; copaivic and oxy-copaivic 
acids, in copaiba; guaiaconic acid, in guaiac; pimaric acid in Bur- 
gundy pitch and frankincense; and sandaracolic acid, in Sandarac. 

(2) Resinol Resins are alcoholic or phenolic resins, a number of 
which have been crystallized, as benzoresinol, from benzoin; stores- 



PIX LIQUIDA 41 

inol, from styrax; gurjuresinol, from gurjun balsam; and guaiac- 
resinol, from guaiac resin. 

(3) Resinotannol Resins are aromatic derivatives that behave 
towards iron salts and some other reagents like tannin and yield 
picric acid on oxidation with nitric acid. The following have been 
isolated: Aloeresinotannol, from aloes; ammoresinotannol and 
galbaresinotannol, from ammoniac; peruresinotannol, from balsam 
of Peru; siaresinotannol and sinnaresinotannol, from benzoin; 
and toluresinotannol, from balsam of Tolu. 

(4) Resene Resins form a group of resins which appear to be 
associated with bitter principles. They are insoluble in alkalies 
and with difficulty acted upon by reagents. They include alban and 
fluavil, from gutta percha; copalresene, from copal; dammaresene, 
from dammar; dracoresene, from dragon's blood; olibanoresene, 
from olibanum. 

(5) Glucoresins or glucosidal resins, as the resins of jalap and 
scammony. 

Resins occur in 33 families of the Spermophytes. 

Pix Liquida. — Tar. — A product obtained by the destructive 
distillation of the wood of Pinus palustris and other species of Pinus 
(Fam. Pinaceae), evergreen trees indigenous to the southern United 
States, particularly near the Atlantic Coast and the Gulf of Mexico. 
Tar is obtained by distillation of the wood without access of air, the 
tarry liquid being separated from the aqueous mixture consisting of 
wood naphtha and pyroligneous (crude acetic) acid. The amount of 
tar obtained in the operation varies, depending on how rapidly the 
wood has been heated. If the wood is heated slowly the yield is 
about 5 per cent, if rapidly heated it is increased to nearly 10 per cent. 

Description. — Semi-fluid, viscid, blackish-brown, non-crystalline, 
transparent in thin layers, becoming granular or crystalline (due to 
the separation of pyrocatechin) and opaque with age; odor peculiar, 
aromatic, taste pungent. Tar is soluble in alcohol, fixed or volatile 
oils, and solutions of potassium or sodium hydrate ; it is heavier than 
water and slightly soluble in it; the solution is of a pale yellowish- 
brown color, has an acid reaction, yields with a dilute solution of 
ferric chloride, a reddish color, and with a stronger solution, an olive- 
green color, due to the presence of pyrocatechin (distinguishing it 
from Juniper Tar), and is colored brownish-red by an equal volume 
of calcium hydrate test-solution. The petroleum ether extract is 
colored greenish by a 0.1 per cent solution of copper acetate. 

Constituents. — Tar consists of a resinous substance, with which 
are admixed a small quantity of turpentine, acetic acid, methyl 



42 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

alcohol and various volatile empyreumatic substances. On dis- 
tillation four distinct classes of products are obtained: (1) An 
aqueous distillate, from 10 to 20 per cent, consisting chiefly of acetic 
acid, methyl alcohol and acetone. (2) A light oily distillate, from 
10 to 15 per cent, coming over under 150° C, and consisting of mesit, 
toluene, xylene, cumene, methene and eupion, which products are 
used as solvents for varnishes and similar substances. (3) A heavy 
oily distillate, about 15 per cent, distilling over between 150° and 250° 
C, and consisting of the creosote oils, viz.: phenol, cresol, creosote, 
paraffin, naphthalene, pyrene, chrysene, retene and some other sub- 
stances. (4) A black resinous mass, called pitch (50 to 65 per cent) 
which has the odor of tar ,and is still official in some pharma- 
copoeias. 

In the distillation of pine wood tar the distillate, which is lighter 
than water, contains a volatile oil known as oil of tar (Oleum Picis 
Liquidse). When recently prepared it is colorless, but it gradually 
darkens, becoming finally dark reddish-brown, there separating at the 
same time a blackish, resinous substance. Oil of tar consists chiefly 
of oil of turpentine, with some of the lighter hydrocarbons and phenol 
compounds, acetic and other acids, and a number of empyreumatic 
products. 

Allied Products. — Beech-wood tar is the product of the destructive 
distillation of the wood of Fagus sylvatica and F. ferruginea (Fam. 
Fagacese). It is distinguished from pine tar by the petroleum ether 
extract not giving a green color with copper acetate solution, and in 
the creosote oils containing a considerable amount of guaiacol. The 
official creosote is a mixture of guaiacol and creosol with some other 
phenol derivatives, as xylenol, methyl creosol and methyl guaiacol, 
obtained from the heavy oily distillate of beech-wood tar. Guaiacol 
is of interest because on treatment with chemicals it may be con- 
verted into vanillin. 

Terebinthina Laricina (Terebinthina Veneta.) — Larch Tur- 
pentine or Venice Turpentine. — An oleo-resin obtained from the Euro- 
pean larch, Larix decidua (Fam. Pinacese). The tree is indigenous to 
the Alps and Carpathian Mountains and is extensively cultivated. 
The oleo-resin is obtained by making incisions into the heart wood 
in the spring of the year and these are then plugged until the fall, 
when the plug is removed and the viscid liquid is collected by means of 
a spoon. From each incision about 250 c.c. of oleo-resin is obtained 
annually. The yield from each tree is limited, as the oleo-resin is 
only secreted for a few years. The commercial supplies are obtained 
mostly from the Southern Tyrol. 



LARCH 43 

Description. — A thick, mostly clear and transparent liquid of a 
yellowish, yellowish-green, or brown color, a slightly green fluores- 
cence, a characteristic aromatic odor and a slightly bitter but not 
acrid taste. On carefully drying a thin layer it leaves a trans- 
parent film. The Sp. Gr. is 1.1850 and the alcoholic solution shows 
a slight acidity to litmus paper. It is completely soluble in alcohol, 
ether, chloroform, acetone and almost entirely soluble in petroleum 
benzin. The acid number varies from 65 to 85. The saponification 
number ranges from 35 to 110. 

Constituents. — A volatile oil, with a terebinthinate odor, from 
20 to 22 per cent; laricinolic acid (crystalline), 4 to 5 per cent; a- 
and /3-larinolic acid (amorphous), 55 to 60 per cent; resin, 14 to 15 
per cent; traces of benzoic acid, a bitter principle and a small quan- 
tity of unsaponifiable material. 

Adulterants. — Mixtures containing colophony and turpentine 
are said to be either mixed with the genuine article or substituted 
for it. 

Strasburg Turpentine is the product of the European silver fir 
(Abies alba). It closely resembles the Canada turpentine, but has a 
lemon-like odor. It contains 24 to 30 per cent of a greenish, fluor- 
escent volatile oil, consisting chiefly of 1-pinene ; 46 to 50 per cent of a- 
and /3-abietinolic acid; about 2 per cent of a crystalline resin, abietolic 
acid; 10 per cent of an amorphous resin, abiennic acid; and small 
quantities of a bitter principle, succinic acid and a coloring principle. 

Laricis Cortex. — Larch Bark. — The inner bark of the branches 
and trunk of Larix decidua (Fam. Pinacese). It occurs in quills and 
flattened more or less transversely curved pieces, outer surface being 
light to dark red; inner surface yellowish-white to pinkish-red; frac- 
ture short-fibrous, outer portion deep red; odor aromatic, taste 
astringent and somewhat bitter. The drug is characterized by scat- 
tered groups of stone cells with thick lamellated walls, the cells 
varying in shape from branching to long spindle-shaped forms resem- 
bling bast fibers (Moeller, Anatomie der Baumrinden). Larch Bark 
contains 10 to 15 per cent of tannin, a small quantity of volatile oil, 
resin and larixinic acid. The latter sublimes at 93° C, forming crys- 
tals resembling those of benzoic acid. It is allied to pyrogallol and 
pyrocatechin and occurs mostly in the bark of young trees. 

Pix Burgundica. — Burgundy Pitch. — The resinous exudation 
of the stems of the Norway Spruce Fir (Picea excelsa, Fam. PinaceaB), 
an evergreen tree indigenous to Europe and Northern Asia. The 
resin is obtained by making incisions through the bark into the wood, 
the resin exuding and solidifying; it is then collected and purified 



44 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

by melting it in hot water and straining the mixture. The chief 
supplies of the drug come from Finland, the Black Forest (Germany) 
and the Jura Mountains. It is doubtful if the commercial supplies 
have ever been derived from the French province, Burgundy, from 
which it takes its name. 

Description. — Irregular, hard, opaque or translucent pieces, 
more or less plastic and strongly adhesive, yellowish-brown or 
reddish-brown, brittle, the fracture shiny, conchoidal; odor agree- 
able, terebinthinate; taste aromatic and sweetish. 

Burgundy Pitch is partly soluble in cold alcohol (1 to 20), and 
almost entirely soluble in boiling alcohol or in glacial acetic acid. 

Constituents.— Chiefly resin, consisting of two crystallizable 
resin acids: dextropimaric and lsevopimaric acids; a volatile oil 
(isomeric with oil of turpentine), about 5 per cent, to which its 
peculiar fragrance is due; and about 10 per cent or less of water, 
which is included during the preparation. 

Substitute. — An article is sometimes sold under the name of 
Burgundy Pitch which is prepared by melting colophony with fat 
or pitch and mixing with water. 

Adulterants. — Burgundy pitch is sometimes adulterated with 
various mixtures, as of other coniferous products and palm oil ; these 
are distinguished by being more or less opaque and somewhat porous 
and not having the characteristic odor of the genuine article, and 
also by the formation of a turbid mixture on the addition of two parts 
by weight of glacial acetic acid. 

Pix Canadensis. — Canada (or Hemlock) Pitch is the oleo-resin 
of the common Hemlock [Tsuga (Abies) canadensis] which is obtained 
by making incisions in the trunk and collecting the exudate, or by 
boiling pieces of the wood and bark and skimming off the melted 
oleo-resin. It occurs in dark, reddish-brown, opaque or translucent 
pieces resembling Burgundy Pitch, and probably contains similar 
constituents. 

Hemlock Bark is very extensively used in the United States for 
tanning. The inner bark is used to some extent in medicine. The 
drug comes in flattened pieces, varying in size; the outer surface is 
cinnamon-brown or blackish-brown and longitudinally wrinkled, or 
evenly furrowed; inner surface yellowish-brown to cinnamon-brown, 
finely striate and with numerous small crystals; fracture short in 
the outer portion and strongly fibrous in the inner bark; the odor is 
faint and the taste strongly astringent. The inner structure is shown 
in Fig. 17. It contains from 10 to 15 per cent of tannin and a small 
quantity of volatile oil and resin. 



CANADA TURPENTINE 45 

Tekebinthina Canadensis. — Canada Turpentine, Canada 
Balsam or Balsam of Fir. — A liquid oleo-resin obtained from 
Abies balsamea (Fam. Pinaceae), a tall evergreen tree (Fig. 16) 
indigenous to the Northern United States and Canada. The oleo- 
resin occurs normally in reservoirs in the bark and forms in vesicles 
or blisters on the surface, from which it is obtained by puncturing 
them with the spout of the can used by the balsam collectors. Can- 
ada Turpentine is collected chiefly in Quebec. 

Description. — Viscid, pale yellow or greenish-yellow, occasion- 
ally with a greenish fluorescence; transparent; odor agreeable, 
terebinthinate; taste bitter, slightly acrid. 

When exposed to the air Canada turpentine gradually dries, form- 
ing a transparent varnish; it solidifies on mixing 5 or 6 parts with 1 
part of magnesia previously moistened with water (distinguishing it 
from other coniferous resins) ; it is completely soluble in ether, chloro- 
form, benzol or oil of turpentine and about £0 per cent is soluble in 
alcohol (distinguishing it from other coniferous resins). 

Constituents. — About 75 per cent of a resinous substance, con- 
sisting chiefly of 4 acid resins: canadinic, canadolic, and a- and 0- 
canadinolic resins, and 11 to 12 per cent of an indifferent resin 
canadoresene ; 16 to 25 per cent of a volatile oil, consisting chiefly of 
1-pinene; and pimaric acid. 

Oregon Balsam. — This is a recent article of commerce and is 
obtained from the red fir or Douglas spruce (Pseudotsuga taxifolia), 
a tree common in the western United States and British Columbia. 
According to Fry the oleo-resin is collected by incising the tree, and 
draining by means of a spout, collecting the exudation in a suitable 
container. It is afterwards strained and shipped in barrels. The 
genuine article has all of the properties of 'true Canada balsam. 
(Mahood, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1919, 91, p. 345.) 

Adulterants. — Mixtures consisting of oil of turpentine, colo- 
phony, oil of eucalyptus, and oil of nutmeg have been sold under the 
name of " Oregon balsam," and for this reason, the true balsam 
has come to be looked upon with suspicion. 

Spruce Gum is a natural exudation on the branches of the black 
or bog spruce (Picea mariana), red spruce (P. rubra) and white 
spruce (P. canadensis). It is gathered in considerable quantities, 
principally in northern New England and Canada and is used chiefly 
in the manufacture of chewing gum. The gum occurs in longitudinal 
rifts on the branches and trunk ; the finest flavored and cleanest gum 
is found on the south side of the tree. In the early spring the gum 
exudes slowly and continues to flow during the summer, hanging in 



46 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 17. — Cross-section of bark of Tsuga canadensis, c, c, c, secondary cork 
formation; a, dead phloem tissues rich in coloring, resinous and tannin-like 
substances; s, s, stone cells; m, m, medullary rays; cr, cells containing 
long prisms of calcium oxalate; ca, cambium; st, bands of starch-bearing 
parenchyma cells. B, tangential-longitudinal section of inner bark showing 
medullary ray cells (a) and crystal cells (c); an oleoresin-secretion cell (s). 
C, stone cells from the inner bark (6). D, various forms of prismatic crystals 
of calcium oxalate. — After Bastin. 



SANDARAC 47 

pendulous bags from the tree. The mass grows daily until the middle 
of July, when the sap ceases to run. The quality of the gum varies 
considerably, not only during the flowing period but for some time 
afterwards. During May and June the exudation has a decidedly 
pungent taste resembling turpentine. As the mass hardens it 
becomes intensely bitter. During the cold weather of winter the 
turpentine-like odor and bitter taste are entirely dissipated and the 
gum is ready to be harvested. It is assorted into several grades 
according to its color and aroma. Thousands of tons are used for 
commercial purposes annually. While the gum is used extensively, 
very little has been written concerning its constituents. It consists 
largely of a gummy substance, a small quantity of volatile oil 
(apparently a simple terpene), and several resins. 

Sandarac. — The dry resinous exudation of Callitris quadrivalvis 
(Fam. Pinaceae), a large shrub of northwestern Africa. The resin 
exudes spontaneously and in order to facilitate the flow and increase 
the yield incisions are made. 

Description. — In pale yellow, cylindrical tears, attaining a length 
of 3.5 cm. and varying in thickness from 5 to 30 mm. ; the outer sur- 
face smooth and covered with a whitish dust; fracture, short, glass- 
like ; inner surface lustrous and transparent ; odor balsamic and taste 
slightly aromatic and bitter. It is distinguished from mastic in 
that it is not plastic on chewing. 

Sandarac melts at 135° C. and is completely soluble in alcohol 
(96 per cent), ether, amyl alcohol, acetone and hot Unseed oil. It is 
only partly soluble in chloroform, carbon disulphide, petroleum ether, 
and volatile oils such as oil of turpentine. Benzol dissolves only 
about 40 per cent of the best grades. 

Powder. — Almost insoluble in alcohol (95 per cent), the solution 
remaining almost colorless; the fragments do not melt when heated 
with water. 

Constituents. — About 95 per cent of a resin consisting of 85 per 
cent of sandaracolic acid and 10 per cent of callitrolic acid; from 0.25 
to 0.5 per cent of volatile oil composed principally of pinene; a small 
quantity of a bitter principle which forms a crystalline sodium salt; 
and yields about 0.10 per cent of ash. 

Allied Plants. — A resin closely resembling sandarac is obtained 
from Actinostrobus pyramidalis, a shrub growing in southwestern 
Australia and from one or more species of Callitris growing in Australia 
and Tasmania. 

Adulterants. — A fictitious Spanish article has been found in com- 
merce apparently manufactured from ordinary colophony. It was 



48 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

formed in tears, became plastic on chewing, and had a melting point 
and gave an acid number corresponding to colophony. 

Thuja. — Arbor Vitae or White Cedar. — The young twigs of arbor 
vita? (Thuja occidentalis, Fam. Pinacese), a conical tree indigenous 
from Canada to Virginia and extensively cultivated, and also used in 
medicine. The leaves are 4-ranked, of two kinds, those of the lateral 
pairs being more or less elongated, clasping, and triangular in section, 
those of the other pair being flattened, appressed and with a prom- 
inent oleo-resinous gland near the middle of the dorsal or outer sur- 
face, the arrangement of the leaves being such as to give the branches 
a flattish appearance. The fruits are small cones with six to ten 
carpels, each bearing a narrow-winged seed. 

Thuja contains 1 per cent of a volatile oil with an odor resembling 
tansy and containing d-pinene, 1-fenchone, d-thujone, and an inactive 
oxime; two resins; a glucoside thujin, which resembles quercitrin; 
a bitter glucoside pinicrin, and pinitannic acid. The two latter 
principles are also found in Pinus sylvestris. 

Juniperus. — Juniper Berries. — The carefully dried ripe fruit of 
the common juniper (Juniperus communis) and its varieties (Fam. 
Pinacea?). The plants are small evergreen trees with subulate, 
prickly-pointed, verticillate leaves and indigenous to North America, 
Europe and Asia. 

Description. — The berry-like fruits are nearly globular, from 5 to 
10 mm. in diameter, somewhat wrinkled, purplish-black or dark 
brown, frequently with a whitish bloom, with three to six minute 
bracts at the base, and a triangular scar at the summit marking 
the line of separation of the carpels. The pulp is brownish and 
usually contains three ovoid seeds, attached to which are 3 to 4 ellip- 
soidal oleo-resinous masses. The odor is slight and the taste is 
sweet and resinous. 

Inner Structure. — Epidermal cells with thick walls and brownish 
amorphous contents ; a hypodermis of 2 to 3 rows of collenchymatous 
cells with brownish-red amorphous contents; pulp or sarcocarp con- 
sisting of thin-walled parenchyma cells with large intercellular 
spaces; fibrovascular bundles associated with yellowish stone cells 
and ovoid schizogenous oil-secretion canals; inner layer of pericarp 
of small thick-walled cells separated from the sarcocarp; the seed 
coat to which are attached the secretion reservoirs is characterized 
by a closed ring of stone cells, most of which contain a prism of calcium 
oxalate, cells of endosperm and embryo filled with aleurone grains 
and an oily cytoplasm. 



SAVIN 49 

Powder. — Calcium oxalate in monoclinic prisms about 0.030 
mm. in length, occurring in stone cells, which are about 0.060 mm. 
in diameter and with walls that are about 0.015 mm. in thickness; a 
small number of nearly spheroidal starch grains from 0.005 to 0.007 
mm. in diameter ; fragments with oil glands and brown pigment cells. 

Constituents. — Juniper berries contain 0.5 to 1.5 per cent of a 
volatile oil containing pinene, cadinene, and a juniper camphor; 
10 per cent of resin; 15 to 30 per cent of dextrose; a yellow coloring 
principle; and yield 2 to 4 per cent of ash. The oil and the fruits 
are chiefly used in the manufacture of gin. 

Lignum Juniperi. — Juniper wood. — The wood of the roots, 
stems and branches of Juniperus communis is official in the Austrian 
Pharmacopoeia. It occurs in commerce in pieces varying from 2 to 
10 cm. in thickness with the thin bark usually adhering. The wood 
of the root is preferred to that of the stems and branches, in that it is 
more aromatic. It contains a small quantity of volatile oil and resin. 

The juniper wood oil of commerce consists apparently of oil of 
turpentine to which some juniper oil has been added, or it is turpen- 
tine oil which has been added to juniper wood or branches and 
redistilled. The oil is used to some extent in veterinary medicine 

Sabina. — Savin. — The young and tender, green branches of 
Juniperus Sabina (Fam. Pinaceae), an evergreen shrub indigenous to 
the mountainous regions of southern and central Europe and extend- 
as far as Siberia. The young twigs are collected in the spring, 
stripped from the older woody branches and dried. In the prepara- 
tion of the volatile oil, which is official, they are used in the green 
state. 

Description. — Branchlets 1 to 5 cm. long, 1 to 2 mm. in diameter; 
covered with closely appressed (except those at the base of the 
branches or branch-scars), grayish- or brownish-green, rhomboidal, 
scale-like leaves which are about 1 mm. long, 4-ranked, closely imbri- 
cated, thus completely covering the branchlets, and show in cross- 
section a single large oil-gland directly beneath the epidermis of the 
dorsal surface. Some of the berry-like fruits are usually present. 
They are globular or ellipsoidal, brownish-yellow or purplish-black, 
5 to 7 mm. in diameter, with a whitish bloom, wrinkled and more or 
less tuberculate, due to the tips of the fleshy scales ; the pulp is brown- 
ish and contains from 2 to 6 ovoid, yellowish-brown seeds, 3 to 4 
mm. long, longitudinally grooved, particularly on the dorsal side 
and enclosed by a resinous membrane. The odor is slightly tere- 
binthinate, and the taste, bitterish and resinous. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 18. 



50 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Powder. — Starch, 0.004 mm.; characteristic hypodermis, con- 
sisting of long fibers 0.015 mm. wide, associated with epidermis; 
narrow tracheids; numerous oleo-resin masses. 

Constituents. — From 4 to 6 per cent of a volatile oil, consisting 
of about 10 per cent of an alcohol sabinol; 40 to 44 per cent of an ester 
of sabinol and acetic acid; a sesquiterpene; and a principle with 
an odor of cumin aldehyde. Also resin, and a small amount of tannin. 

Allied Plants. — Red Cedar (Juniperus virginiana) is a tree or 
shrub of wide distribution in North America. The fruits are purple, 




Fig. 18. — Transverse section of the stalk of Juniperus Sabina at the point of 
attachment of two leaves, ep, epidermis; s, stomata; h, hypodermis; 
pal, palisade cells; I, bast fibers; b, xylem; r, mechanical tissue; S, oil- 
secreting gland or reservoir. — After Mongin. 

smaller, and contain fewer seeds than those of J. Sabina. The con- 
stituents are also similar. The volatile oil of the wood is known as 
red cedar wood oil and occurs to the extent of 2.5 to 4.5 per cent. 
The oil consists of so-called cedar camphor, or cedrol, and cedrene. 

ANGIOSPERMS 

The Angiosperms or flowering plants include the highest group or 
phylum. They are represented by at least 130,000 living species 
and about 10 per cent of which have been used by man either as food, 
in medicine, or for some distinct economic purpose. 



TRITICUM 51 



MONOCOTYLEDONS 

This subdivision includes those plants in which the seeds con- 
tain but a single cotyledon, the leaves are usually parallel-veined, 
the flowers are mostly 3-merous and in the stems the fibrovascular 
bundles are of the concentric type. 

GRAMINE^, OR GRASS FAMILY 

These are mostly herbs with cylindrical, usually hollow stems 
(culms) closed at the swollen nodes. The leaves are alternate, the 
basal portion or sheath enveloping the culm and bearing at the orifice 
an appendage called the ligule. Under the epidermis of both stems 
and leaves there is a more or less strongly developed ring of scleren- 
chymatous fibers; similar fibers surround the concentric fibrovas- 
cular bundles which occur in 1 or 2 circles beneath the endodermis. 

Triticum — Couch Grass, Dog Grass, or Quick Grass. — 
The rhizome and roots of Agropyron (Triticum) ripens, a common 
perennial grass indigenous to Europe and Asia, and naturalized in 
North America except in the Arctic regions. It forms slender jointed 
rhizomes, by means of which the plant is extensively propagated; 
the culms vary from 0.3 to 1 M. in height, the spikelets have 3 to 7 
flowers; and the empty glumes are 5- to 7-nerved, acute or with an 
awn-like summit. The rhizome is gathered in spring, usually deprived 
of the rootlets, cut into pieces and carefully dried. The commercial 
supplies come chiefly from central Europe. 

Description. — Horizontal, somewhat cylindrical or 4- to 6-angled, 
usually cut into pieces 5 to 8 mm. long, 1 to 2 mm. in diameter; 
externally light yellow, longitudinally furrowed, smooth, shiny, 
nodes with circular leaf -scars and few root-scars; fracture tough, 
fibrous; internally, bark light brown, about 0.5 mm. thick, wood light 
yellow and porous, center hollow; odor slight, taste sweetish, slightly 
acrid. 

Roots filiform, irregularly branching, attaining a length of 5 cm. 
and not more than 0.5 mm. in thickness, light brown or yellowish- 
brown, frequently covered with long root-hairs. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 19.) Epidermis of a single row of strongly 
lignified cells; hypodermis of 3 to 6 rows of strongly lignified cells; 
cortex of thin-walled parenchyma and a few small fibrovascular bun- 
dles; endodermis, the lateral and inner walls being thick, porous, 
and strongly lignified; fibrovascular bundles collateral, with several 
large tracheae and imbedded in a layer of sclerenchymatous fibers; 



52 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

pith with several rows of parenchyma cells and scattered fibrovascular 
bundles; central area hollow. 

Powder. — Light yellowish; tracheae lignified, with spiral or annu- 
lar thickenings or simple pores; sclerenchymatous fibers long, thick- 
walled, strongly lignified; endodermal cells with inner walls thick- 
ened and slightly lignified; parenchyma with irregular masses of a 
soluble carbohydrate. 

Constituents. — Triticin, a lsevo-rotatory carbohydrate resem- 
bling inulin, 8 per cent; dextrose and levulose 2.5 to 3.3 per cent; a 
nitrogenous, gummy substance, 11 per cent; acid malates; and 
about 4.5 per cent of ash containing much silica. The rhizome is 
free from starch and calcium oxalate, and the lactic acid found in the 
extract is apparently a fermentation product. 

Adulterant. — Bermuda grass, the rhizome of Capriola dactylon, 
has been used as a substitute. The rhizomes are from 2 to 3 mm. in 
diameter, hard and brittle. There is no endodermis and the paren- 
chyma is filled with starch. (Zufall, Jour. A. Ph. A., 1919, 8, p. 472; 
Gathercoal, ibid, p. 26.) 

Zea. — Corn Silk. — The fresh styles and stigmas of Zea Mays 
(Fam. Gramineae), an annual plant indigenous to tropical America 
and known only in cultivation, being cultivated widely in nearly all 
tropical, sub-tropical and temperate regions. 

Description. — In matted masses consisting of several hundred or 
more slender, very delicate, thread-like, purplish-red to greenish- 
white, more or less translucent styles; 10 to 20 cm. long; stigmas 
bifid, slender, 2 to 3 mm. long; odor slight; taste insipid. 

When viewed under the microscope the upper part of the styles 
and the stigmas are seen to have numerous multicellular, non-glan- 
dular hairs from 0.2 to 0.5 mm. long, among which are numerous 
spinose pollen grains 0.010 to 0.015 mm. in diameter. 

Constituents. — Not much is known concerning the constituents of 
this drug, and the analyses have been chiefly of the dried commercial 
article. The fresh drug contains about 83 per cent of water. The 
dried drug contains a volatile alkaloid; two resins about 5.5 per cent; 
a crystalline principle, maizenic acid, about 1.25 per cent; fixed oil, 
5.25 per cent; sugar; ash, about 12 per cent. The coloring principle 
of the fresh drug is soluble in water and alcohol and is changed to 
yellowish-red with acids, green with alkalies, purple with potassium 
alum, and olive-green changing to greenish-brown with ferric chloride. 

The Starches. — Large amounts of capital are invested through- 
out the world in the manufacture of starch. In the United States 
alone not less than 300,000,000 pounds of this material are marketed 



TRITICUM 



53 






Con} 



Fig. 19. — Triticum. A, transverse section of a rhizome or stolon; Ep, epidermis; 
MS, a vascular bundle situated in the cortical parenchyma; End, endo- 
dermis. B, continuation of section figures in A showing corticaf parenchyma 
(C) ; endodermis (End) ; sclerenchymatous fibers or stereome (S) surrounding 
a mestome strand with two large tracheae having porous walls and small 
tracheae with annular thickenings between them; parenchyma cells of pith 
(P). C, a vascular bundle or mestome strand from the cortex (C) showing 
that it is surrounded by a closed sheath of sterome (5) and contains almost 
exclusively leptome. D, transverse section of a portion of a secondary root; 
C, thick-walled cells of inner layer of cortex; End, endodermis; P, peri- 
cambium; PL, the proto-leptome; PH, the proto-hadrome in which the 
earliest vessels are developed; V, portions of two tracheae; Conj. thick 
walled conjunctive tissue. — After Holm. 



54 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

annually; of this amount almost five-sixths is made from Indian corn. 
While starch is widely distributed in the plant kingdom, there are 
relatively few plants from which it is extracted on a large scale. In 
addition to corn other cereals, as rice and wheat, contribute to the 
world's supply. Starch is also obtained from potato tubers, maranta 
rhizomes, and cassava roots. In order to facilitate their comparative 
study they are considered at this point, and it is desirable to know 
something of the general properties of the starch grain, no matter 
what its origin may be. 

General Properties of Starch. — Starch is insoluble in cold water 
or alcohol, but forms a white jelly when boiled with water, which, 
when cool, gives a deep-blue color with iodin and should give a neutral 
rection to litmus paper (commercial corn starch is usually alkaline) ; 
ash not more than 1 per cent. 

If starch is triturated with water and the mixture filtered, the 
filtrate does not give a reaction with iodin solution; if, on the other 
hand, the starch is previously triturated with sand and then with 
water, the filtrate becomes blue on the addition of iodin solution. 
It appears that in the latter operation the wall of the grain is broken 
and the soluble starch present in the grain is liberated. 

If dry starch and iodin are triturated together no color or, at the 
most, a faint blue color is produced; whereas, if a little water is 
added and the trituration repeated, a deep blue color is immediately 
produced. 

The blue color of starch solution and iodin disappears on the appli- 
cation of heat, but slowly returns on cooling the solution, but not 
with the same degree of intensity, part of the iodin being volatilized. 

When starch is heated with glycerin it dissolves, and if alcohol is 
added to the solution, a granular precipitate is formed which is soluble 
in water, the solution giving a blue reaction with iodin. 

When starch is heated with an excess of water at 100° C. for 
even several weeks, dextrinization of the starch does not take place, 
i.e., the solution still gives a blue color with iodin. If, however, a 
mineral acid be added, it is quickly dextrinized, turning violet-red, 
reddish and yellowish with iodin; finally, maltose and dextrose are 
produced, these giving no reaction with iodin, but reducing Fehling's 
solution. The ferments and other chemicals have a similar effect 
on starch. 

When dry starch is heated at about 50° C. from fifteen to thirty 
minutes the lamellae and crystalloidal structure become better defined 
and the polarizing effects produced by the grains also become more 
pronounced. When starch is mounted in a fixed oil, as almond, the 



CORN STARCH 55 

polarizing effects are more pronounced than when it is mounted in 
water, but the inner structure is not usually apparent, unless the 
starch has been previously heated. 

Literature. — Kraemer, Bot. Gazette, Nov., 1902; Ibid., Oct., 
1905; and Eighth International Congress of Applied Chemistry, 
Vol. 17, p. 31. Also Kraemer's "Applied and Economic Botany." 

Amylum. — Starch. — The starch grains obtained from the grains 
of wheat (Triticum sativum and its varieties), corn (Zea Mays) and 
rice (Oryza sativa) (Fam. Gramineae). The grains are separated 
from the cells, purified in various ways, and subsequently washed 
with large quantities of water. In the U. S. Pharmacopoeia corn 
starch alone is recognized. 

In the preparation cf corn starch the corn grains are softened by 
being placed in running water and kept at a temperature of about 
60° C. for several days, care being taken to prevent any fermentation. 
The grains are then crushed between burr-stones and the paste car- 
ried by means of water to large sieves, the strained magma then 
being reground and carried to sieves made of bolting cloth. The 
milky-fluid containing the starch is then run into settling vats, the 
starch separating out. The starch is then freed from oil, albuminoids 
and other substances by treating it with a 15 per cent solution of 
caustic soda. The supernatant liquid is removed and the starch 
washed with water to remove all traces of alkali. The starchy mix- 
ture is allowed to stand, when the starch separates out and is dried. 
Commercial starch is likely to contain some free alkali, which is 
readily detected by the addition of an aqueous solution of fuchsin, 
which becomes decolorized immediately in the presence of a starch 
containing free alkali. 

Varieties of Corn. — There are a large number of varieties and sub- 
varieties of Zea Mays, some of the former being ranked as species. 
The following well-defined varieties may be mentioned: 

(1) Zea Mays everta, to which belong the pop-corns. The size 
of the ears and grains is about one-half or less that of the other corns; 
the grains have a more or less translucent and horny endosperm, the 
cells of the latter containing numerous compactly arranged polygonal 
starch grains, which are from 0.007 to 0.010 mm. in diameter and have 
a central rarefied area from 0.002 to 0.007 mm. in diameter. It is 
owing to the structure of the starch grains that the peculiar popping 
of the corn grains results when they are heated. Heating the corn 
grains at 145° to 160° C. for from four to ten minutes causes the burst- 
ing of the starch grains, and at the same time a rupture of the cells 
and splitting of the pericarp into 4 parts. The white appearance 



56 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

of the popped grains is due to the inclusion of air in the bursted cells. 
During the heating the starch is converted into a soluble form, and 
this gives popped corn its nutritive value. Some of the flint and 
dent corns show a similar tendency to pop when heated, but it is 
only in those parts of the endosperm that are horny and the cells of 
which contain compactly arranged polygonal starch grains in which 
the rarefied area is at least from one-tenth to one-fifth the diameter 
of the entire grain. Pieces of the pop-corn, as well as the horny 
portions of some of the flint and dent corns, will pop as readily as the 
whole grains. 

(2) Zea Mays indentata yields the dent or flint corns, the grains 
of which have a corneous (horny) endosperm on the sides and are 
indented at the summit, owing to the shrinking of the cells, which 
contain more cell-sap and less compactly arranged starch grains. 

The starch grains in the cells of the horny endosperm resemble 
those of pop-corn, but the starch grains in the other cells are more or 
less rounded or slightly polygonal, and vary from 0.005 to 0.025 mm. 
in diameter ; the central rarefied area is either wanting or usually not 
more than 0.002 mm. in diameter. 

(3) Zea Mays saccharata yields the sugar corns. While the grains 
are more or less translucent and horny, they have a wrinkled or shriv- 
eled surface. The cells of the endosperm contain gum-like substances 
and a relatively small number of nearly spheroidal starch grains 
from 0.004 to 0.010 mm. in diameter. 

Corn Starch. — This occurs as a fine, somewhat cream-colored, 
mobile powder, which is practically free from cohering particles. 
The starch grains (Fig. 20) are more or less polygonal or somewhat 
rounded, usually with a distinct circular, or 2- to 5-rayed cleft in the 
center, and vary from 0.010 to 0.035 mm. in diameter. When exam- 
ined by means of the micropolariscope the grains show a distinct cross, 
but the display of colors when the selenite plate is used is less pro- 
nounced than in potato starch. This starch frequently contains 
traces of alkalies, which may be detected by adding 0.5 gm. of the 
starch to 2 c.c. of an aqueous solution of fuchsin, when the latter is 
decolorized. 

Corn Meal is whitish or yellowish, and in addition to the paren- 
chyma which contains oil and characteristic starch grains there are 
also present fragments of the pericarp. The latter are free from 
hairs; the cells of the epicarp have thick walls with simple pores; 
beneath the latter occurs a layer of parenchyma cells which are thin- 
walled, more or less branching, between which are large intercellular 
spaces; running at right angles across the branching parenchyma 



STARCH 



57 




©£)© (j) 







8 




Q O 



G 

I £0 ° 
O O 

Q . 



m^ 






Q 



<2? 




3 




oW 



© ° 












<£> 







CD 




* 



o ° ° 






o 



Fig. 20. — Commercial Starches and Dextrins. A, potato starch; B, altered 
starch grains in potato dextrin; C, maranta starch; D, wheat starch; E, 
altered starch grains in brewer's malt; F, cassava starch; G, corn starch; 
H, altered starch grains in corn dextrin; /, rice starch. — Drawing by Hog- 
stad. 



58 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

cells are narrow thin-walled tube-cells, which are also found in the 
other cereals. Corn meal contains more starch and oil and little hull, 
as compared to corn bran. In Broom Corn and Sugar Sorghum the 
tangential walls of the cells of the epicarp are undulate and distinctly 
porous; and the more or less polygonal cells of the perisperm are 
quite prominent. These two kinds of cells serve to distinguish these 
fruits from either corn or any of the other cereals. 

Corn Bran. — Less starch and oil and more hull, as compared to 
corn meal. 

Rice Starch. — This is prepared by the use of chemicals much 
the same as in the preparation of corn starch and is either in the 
form of a white or cream-colored powder of small, irregular masses. 
The individual grains like those of oat (Fig. 20), are polygonal, from 
0.002 to 0.010 mm. in diameter, with a central cleft, and usually 
united into small aggregates of two or more. The product sold for 
rice starch is frequently rice flour, and is characterized by the large, 
oval aggregates of numerous grains, as well as cellular tissue. 

Rice Flour consists chiefly of the small, angular starch grains and 
aggregates like those of oat. There are also present some of the 
polygonal cells containing aleurone grains and a few fragments of the 
pericarp. The latter is especially characterized by the radially 
elongated cells of the epicarp, which are 0.100 to 0.500 mm. long and 
0.025 to 0.100 mm. wide, and the end walls of which are deeply undu- 
late, resembling the epidermal cells of some leaves. 

The Rice Powder of commerce may consist of mixtures of rice 
starch with any of the following substances: corn starch, talc, zinc, 
oxide, chalk or bismuth subnitrate. — (La Wall, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 
1915, p. 299.) 

Rice Bran. — It has been known for some years that while polished 
rice produces in chickens the symptoms of beri-beri, the same chickens 
fed with rice bran recovered. What constituent of rice bran produces 
this result has been the subject of considerable investigation in Japan, 
and Suzuki isolated a principle which he called aberinic acid, and later 
obtaining it much purer he called the latter product, oryganin. 
Kondo and Gorin have recently studied the use of these rice bran 
preparations in beri-beri. They find that the bran and its extract 
made with 90 per cent alcohol were efficacious in the disease produced 
in doves ; that an extract made with 20 per cent alcohol is of service, 
but not so efficacious as the extract made with stronger alcohol; and 
that Suzuki's oryganin does not seem effective. 

This latter substance was found to be a mixture, containing 
choline, nicotinic acid and adenin. In addition, rice bran contains 



WHEAT 59 

fat, phosphateides, starch, acids, betamin and sugar. So far, Kondo 
and Gorin have been unable to isolate from rice bran any individual 
chemical to which the therapeutic effect of the bran could be ascribed. 

Wheat Starch usually occurs in very hard, somewhat elongated 
and columnar or irregular masses, varying from 1 to 3 cm. in length. 
The starch grains are more or less rounded or flattened-circular, and 
depending upon the surface presented to view under the microscope, 
appear circular or elliptical in outline (Fig. 20) ; they vary from 0.015 
to 0.035 mm. in diameter and are without distinct markings except 
when heated or treated with dilute acid or alkaline solutions. When 
viewed under the micropolariscope the grains do not show a distinct 
cross, except when viewed on edge, and the play of colors when the 
selenite plate is used is scarcely discernible. Wheat starch does not 
agglutinate on mixing with water as wheat flour does. 

Wheat Flour. — Agglutinates with water (distinction from wheat 
starch) ; few tissues of wheat grain. 

Wheat Middlings are grayish-white and in addition to the char- 
acteristic starch grains there are numerous fragments of tissues, as 
the thick-walled polygonal cells of the endosperm, which contain 
small aleurone grains and have a more or less distinct nucleus; the 
cells of the embryo containing aleurone grains and fixed oil; and the 
tissues of the pericarp. The latter include unicellular hairs, which 
are 0.5 to 1 mm. in length and 0.015 to 0.025 mm. in diameter, have a 
sharply pointed summit and rounded base, and a narrow lumen, 
which is but 0.001 to 0.002 mm. wide; a layer of tangentially-elon- 
gated cells from 0.100 to 0.200 mm. long and 0.015 to 0.025 mm. in 
diameter, which are slightly thickened and with simple pores; and 
running across the latter are a number of more or less isolated vermi- 
form cells with rounded ends (Fig. 21). 

Wheat middlings which have been kept for some time acquire an 
odor suggestive of elm bark or fenugreek. It is extensively used in 
veterinary medicine as a basis for the inclusion of bitter tonic sub- 
stances. It has also been extensively used in adulteration of spices, 
foods and powdered drugs. 

Wheat Bran is said to be sometimes adulterated with " inner 
coffee hulls," which consist of the inner tissues of the pericarp of 
the coffee fruit, and are readily detected by the fragments of palisade 
cells and the somewhat elongated, narrow, sclerenchymatous fibers 
which cross one another. 

Wheat Germ. — The material known as wheat germ was formerly 
a waste product of the flour mills, or used only as a fodder, but 
recently it has been utilized in the forms of certain kinds of bread and 



60 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

in various other foods. Chemical analysis has shown this material 
to contain choline, betaine, allantoin, cane sugar, dextrose and 
raffinose. In addition thereto, a fatty oil, consisting of palmitic, 
stearic and linolic acids, the latter predominating. A very small 
amount of sinapic acid was also obtained, which probably exists in 
the wheat germ in the form of sinapine, the latter being a choline 
ester of sinapic acid. The material yields, furthermore, a small 
amount of an amorphous, glucosidic product, and the proportion of 
resinous substances is exceedingly small. (Power, Pharm. Journ., 
1913, pp. 117-120.) 

| Rye Flour is faintly grayish-white, the starch grains closely 
resembling those of wheat, but sometimes larger (0.020 to 0.060 mm.) ; 
the lamellae are distinct and the point of origin of growth is sometimes 
marked by a star-shaped cleft or fissure. Rye flour when mixed 
with water does not agglutinate like wheat flour. A few fragments 
of the pericarp are also present (Fig. 21). 

Rye Middlings. — In addition to the starch grains in rye flour a 
considerable amount of the tissues of the pericarp are present. The 
latter closely resemble those of wheat, but hairs from the summit 
of the fruit have thinner walls, the lumina being two or three times 
the thickness of the walls; and the tangentially-elongated cells have 
simple pores only on the tangential walls, and do not lie close together, 
so that there are intercellular spaces between them (Fig. 21). 

Barley Flour. — The starch grains closely resemble those of 
wheat, but are smaller, usually not more than 0.025 mm. in diameter, 
and in the case of malt the grains show distinct radial and circular 
clefts, due to the action of the diastase; the hairs from the summit 
of the grain resemble those of both wheat and rye but are shorter 
than either, being from 0.040 to 0.150 mm. long; the tangentially- 
elongated cells are non-porous, the walls being 0.001 to 0.002 mm. 
thick (Fig. 21). 

Buckwheat Flour. — Light grayish-brown; pericarp of elongated 
epidermal cells with latticed walls, due to the pores of the outer and 
inner walls running obliquely and at right angles to each other; short 
sclerenchymatous fibers with somewhat curved or oblique end walls, 
large simple pores and brown contents; parenchyma with brown 
contents. Seed-coat showing in surface section epidermal cells 
with undulate walls ; branching parenchyma with greenish or brown- 
ish-yellow contents; and an inner epidermis of elongated cells. 
Endosperm having a layer of cells containing aleurone grains, resem- 
bling those found in the true cereals, and parenchyma with numerous 
angular or somewhat rounded or ellipsoidal starch grains (resembling 



CEREAL GRAINS 



61 



*2gg£oo;o; 




o0 8°(jf(si 



Fig. 21. — Wheat grain (Triticum sativum): A, transverse section showing epi- 
carp (e), cells of mesocarp (m), tangentially-elongated cells (querzellen) (t), 
tube cells (c), spermoderm (s), perisperm (p), aleurone cells (a), parenchyma 
containing starch (st); B, surface section of pericarp showing relation of 
epidermal cells (e) to tangentially-elongated cells it) ; C, hair from the sum- 
mit of the grain with thick wall and very narrow lumen; D, apical portion 
of a hair ; E, starch grains. 

Rye grain (Secale cereale) : F, hair with wall comparatively thinner than in the 
hair of the wheat grain; G, apical portion of a hair; H, tangentially-elongated 
cells in which the pores occur only on the tangential walls; /, starch grains 
which vary from 0.020 to 0.070 mm. in diameter, and occasionally have 
delicate clefts. 

Barley grain (Hordeum sativum) : J, transverse section of palet (pa) and peri- 
carp (pe), aleurone layer (a) composed of two or three rows of cells, paren- 
chyma of endosperm containing starch (st) ; K, hair from epicarp with very 
thin wall and large lumen; L, tangentially-elongated cells which differ 
from those of wheat and rye in being without pores; M, starch grains which 
resemble those of wheat but are uniformly smaller. 



62 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

those of rice or oat), with distinct central cleft and varying from 
0.005 to 0.012 mm. in diameter. 

Potato Starch occurs as a more or less finely granular powder, 
and appears to have less tendency to form coherent masses than 
arrowroot starch. The grains (Fig. 20) are somewhat shell-shaped, 
having distinct lamellae and a circular point of origin, of growth, which 
is at the smaller end of the grain. They vary in size from 0.005 to 
0.125 mm., there being a large number of smaller, somewhat ellip- 
soidal or spheroidal grains, and a few 2- or 3-compound grains. 
Under the micropolariscope the grains show a distinct cross, and a 
striking play of colors when a selenite plate is used. On heating the 
starch to a temperature of 65° C. or treating it with very dilute alkali 
or acid solutions, the grains swell to four times their original size and 
finally burst. 

Maranta or Arrowroot Starch. — There are a number of Com- 
mercial kinds of this starch, depending upon the countries in which 
it is produced. Bermuda arrowroot is in the form of somewhat hard, 
irregular granules or masses, varying from 1 to 6 mm. in diameter. 
When rubbed between the fingers it is reduced to a smooth powder, 
which is velvety to the touch. The starch grains (Fig. 20) vary in 
shape from ellipsoidal to ovoid or oblong, and from 0.010 to 0.065, 
mm. in diameter. The lamellae are mostly indistinct and there is 
usually a transverse or crescent-shaped cleft at the middle or near 
the broad end of the grain. Montserrat arrowroot closely resembles 
the Bermuda starch, but the grains are a little larger and more of 
them show the cleft. St. Vincent arrowroot is slightly darker in 
color and is in the form of masses or granules, which are sometimes 
20 mm. in diameter. The starch grains resemble those of the 
Bermuda arrowroot, but the grains having clefts are more numerous. 

The arrowroot starches all show a distinct cross with the micro- 
polariscope and a marked play of colors when a selenite plate is used. 
These starches usually contain about 15 per cent of water, the 
remainder being mostly starch. 

Other Starches. — Among the other commercial starches the fol- 
lowing may be mentioned: 

a. Consisting of Single Grains; Yam starch (from several species 
of Dioscorea) occurs in narrow, ellipsoidal grains, 0.030 to 0.050 mm. 
long, with distinct lamellae and point of origin of growth at narrow 
end. Canna starch (tous les mois arrowroot), derived from several 
species of Canna, occurs in broadly ellipsoidal or ovoid grains varying 
from 0.050 to 0.125 mm. in diameter and with distinct lamellae and 
circular point of origin of growth. Bean starch consists of ellipsoidal 



CEREAL GRAINS 63 

or reniform grains, which. vary from 0.025 to 0.050 mm. in length 
and have a distinct, branching, elongated cleft in the middle. Pea 
starch grains resemble those of bean starch, but the grains are smaller 
and more or less irregular on the surface. Queensland arrowroot 
is obtained from Canna edulis. 

b. Consisting of 2- to 3-compound grains: Cassava or tapioca 
starch is obtained from the Sweet and Bitter Cassava, and occurs in 
somewhat plano-convex or bell-shaped, 2- to 3-, or even 4- to 8-com- 
pound grains, which vary from 0.006 to 0.030 mm. in diameter an 
have a distinct central, circular, or radiating cleft. Sweet potato 
starch resembles Cassava starch, but some of the grains are larger. 

Dextrin. — Sticky mass with water, consisting chiefly of altered 
starch grains, but usually sufficient unaltered grains are present to 
determine the source of the dextrin (Fig. 20, B, H). 

It is chiefly made from either potato or corn starch and depending 
upon the nature of the process two kinds are manufactured. When 
heat alone is used yellow dextrin is formed, and when the hydrolysis 
is assisted by the use of acids, white dextrin or so-called soluble 
starch results. Dextrin is almost completely soluble in hot water 
and should not contain more than 5 per cent of dextrose, 10 per cent of 
moisture and 0.5 per cent of ash. 

Sago starch is obtained from Cycas revoluta and other cycads as 
well as a number of palms. It occurs in commerce in small, horny 
granules, which are slowly affected by cold water, when there sepa- 
rates the characteristic ellipsoidal or truncate-ellipsoidal starch 
grains. The latter vary from 0.015 to 0.050 mm. long and have a 
large central area surrounded by rather narrow distinct, altered 
lamellae. 

Sago (imitation) .—Usually made from corn starch and breaks 
down quickly in water, showing characteristic corn-starch grains. 

Maltum. — Malt. — The partially germinated and dried grains 
of Hordeum sativum, particularly of the variety vulgare (Fam. 
Graminese). In the preparation of malt the barley grains are soaked 
in water for twelve to twenty-four hours, placed in heaps, allowed 
to germinate, being occasionally stirred so that the heat generated 
on germination does not become excessive. After the protrusion 
of the caulicle and radicle the material is quickly dried and deprived 
of these parts. 

Barley. — Narrow-ellipsoidal, somewhat 4-angled, 8 to 10 mm. long, 
2 to 3 mm. in diameter, having an outer, readily separable coat 
consisting of the inner and outer pales, which are membranous, chaff- 
like, pale straw-color and somewhat translucent; within the pales 



64 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

and adhering to the base of the grain, two very small lodicules con- 
sisting chiefly of unicellular hairs from 0.5 to 1 mm. long. Grain 
nearly smooth, grooved on one side and with a slight projection at 
the summit consisting of numerous 1-celled hairs, usually with pollen 
grains, adhering, embryo on side opposite the groove and forming 
a slight projection at the base of the grain; endosperm large and 
consisting chiefly of cells filled with spheroidal starch grains resem- 
bling those of wheat, the two to four outer layers of cubical cells 
containing aleurone grains. The embryo is connected with the 
endosperm by means of a sheathing membrane (by some regarded 
as a modified cotyledon), through which it obtains nutriment during 
germination. On germination the embryo produces about 5 multiple 
primary rootlets and a stem portion with sheathing green leaves. 

Malt. — Grains resembling those of barley, of a yellowish-brown 
to dark brown color, and with a short fracture; starch grains altered, 
exhibiting numerous radial and concentric fissures; odor agreeable 
and taste sweetish. (Fig. 20.) 

Constituents. — Barley grains contain from 60 to 68 per cent of 
starch; 12 to 18 per cent of proteins; about 1.5 per cent of sugar, 
and 1 to 3 per cent of fixed oil. Two ferments are developed during 
the process of germination, namely, diastase, which acts on the starch, 
changing it to dextrin and maltose; and another ferment which acts 
on the proteins, converting them into peptones. The germinating 
seeds of barley contain a white crystallizable alkaloid, hordenine, 
which is slightly toxic. 

Commercial malt contains nearly the same constituents as are 
found in barley, the starch grains being somewhat altered and 
converted partly into soluble starch through the action of the fer- 
ment diastase, a small amount of which is still present in malt after 
drying. In the preparation of the extract of malt the starch is mostly 
converted into dextrin and maltose, the proportion of the latter being 
larger. 

Literature. — Mann, " Morphology of the Barley Grain with Ref- 
erence to its Enzym-Secreting Areas," Bulletin of the U. S. Depart- 
ment of Agriculture No. 183. 

Vetivee. — Radix Iwarancusae, or Cuskus Root. — The rhizome 
and roots of Andropogon squarrosus (Fam. Graminese), a perennial 
grass indigenous to the East Indies and cultivated in various parts 
of tropical America, also growing in the vicinity of New Orleans. 
It easily adapts itself to cultivation in the greenhouse. 

Description. — The rhizome is upright, cylindrical, from 10 to 30 
mm. in length and 5 to 15 mm. in thickness; it is yellowish-white 



SLEEPY GRASS 65 

and marked with numerous circular scars from the sides of which 
emanate the long, cylindrical, tortuous roots which are beset with 
numerous fine branches inter-twining with each other and forming a 
mat. The roots may attain a length of over 30 cm. and a diameter 
of 2 mm. and are very tough, fibrous. When fresh they are of a slight 
yellowish-brown color, becoming when dried reddish-brown. The 
drug has an aromatic odor and a somewhat bitter taste. The volatile 
oil resides in the bark, which should be present in the commercial 
article. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 22. 

Constituents. — From 0.4 to 0.9 per cent of volatile oil; a large 
amount of starch; a small amount of resin and a bitter principle. 
The volatile oil of Vetiver varies in color from dark yellow to dark 
brown and is the most viscid of all the volatile oils. It is heavier 
than water, intensive and very persistent in odor, being used pri- 
marily in finer perfumery for fixing the more volatile odors. 

Adulterants. — The commercial article is frequently contaminated 
with red sand. The root, from which a part of the volatile oil has 
been extracted, is frequently found in commerce and can be recog- 
nized by its lighter color. 

Allied Plants. — The rhizomes and roots of a number of other 
species of Andropogon growing in Brazil and Persia have apparently 
the same properties as the genuine Vetiver. 

Stipa Vaseyi. — Sleepy Grass. — This grass grows throughout the 
southwestern part of the United States and Mexico and from its 
property of putting to sleep any animal that has eaten it it has come 
to be known, especially in Mexico and New Mexico, as " Sleepy 
Grass." 

Description. — The plant is a stout, leafy, densely tufted, perennial 
grass from 1 to 2 M. high, with broad loose and overlapping lower 
sheaths, longer than the internodes and bearing broad flat leaves 
often 6 dm. in length; the upper sheaths are smaller and shorter 
than their respective internodes, bearing smaller, often involute 
leaves; the culm is terminated by an erect, dense panicle from 1.5 
dm. to 4.5 dm. in length; spikelets about 9 mm. in length, the glumes 
minutely scabrous on the back and acuminate; flowering glume 
pubescent; awn 15 mm. to 35 mm. in length, twice bent and twisted 
up to the second bend ; callus densely hairy acute. 

Inner Structure.— Consult Farwell, Merck's Report, 1911, p. 271. 

Constituents. — Practically nothing is known concerning the active 
principles upon which its physiological action depends. The drug 
is best extracted with weak solutions of either acetic or hydrochloric 



66 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 22. — Transverse section of rhizome of Vetiver (Andropogon squarrosus) 
growing in the vicinity of New Orleans. E, epidermis; N, unicellular non- 
glandular hairs; H, hypodermis; BF, closed ring of bast fibers; P, paren- 
chyma cells separated by large intercellular spaces (J); EN, endodermis; 
W, wood fibers; T, tracheae; P, parenchyma cells of pith. — Drawn by 
Haase. 



PALMS 67 

acids, or dilute alcohol. According to Lescohier (Ibid., p. 273) 
Sleepy Grass has some hypnotic properties but no anesthetic effects. 
The drug will probably never assume any therapeutic importance, as 
its marked depression on the vital functions of the body obviates 
the possibility of utilizing its hypnotic properties. 

Allied Plants. — Other species of Stipa are known to be poisonous 
to cattle; among these the following may be mentioned: Stipa 
inebrians, of Mongolia, is said to be poisonous to the stock of that 
region and to produce effects exactly like those produced by the 
sleepy grass of New Mexico. Stipa sibirica, of central and northern 
Asia, is poisonous to stock, which die within a few hours after feeding 
upon it unless remedial treatment is quickly given. Stipa lepto- 
stachya and S. hystricina, of Bolivia and Argentina, are fatal to stock 
of those countries. Heim and Herbert found that these plants con- 
tain a glucoside that splits up and yields 0.02 per cent of hydrocyanic 
acid, which probably is the real- cause of the death of the stock that 
have eaten the grass. Stipa capillata, of Europe and Asia; S. 
spartea, the porcupine grass, and S. setigera, of North America, 
may be fatal to stock in a purely mechanical manner. The hard 
pointed, hairy callus of the seed may puncture the skin and work 
its way inward until it strikes a vital organ, killing the animal. 

PXLMM, OR TRUE PALMS 

They are mostly shrubs and trees restricted to tropical and sub- 
tropical countries. They were at one time quite extensively distrib- 
uted and very numerous and at the present time they are represented 
by about 1000 species. They are mostly unbranched shrubs and 
trees and the trunks may reach the height of 35 M., and usually bear 
at the summit a cluster of large leaves which are either pinnate 
(feather palms) or palmate (fan palms). Some of the palms are low 
growing, as the saw palmetto of the southern United States, which 
has a creeping and branching root stock or rhizome. They are of 
very great importance to man, being employed for a large number 
of purposes. The anatomy of the stem is quite characteristic, con- 
sisting of an epidermal layer with siliceous walls; the fibrovascular 
bundles, consisting of 1 to 3 tracheae and numerous tracheids, are of 
the concentric type and lie quite close to each other forming a rather 
characteristic woody portion. The leaves usually possess on the 
dorsal surface a hypodermal layer beneath which occur radially 
elongated groups of sclerenchymatous fibers and between which is 
distributed the chlorophyll-containing parenchyma, which resembles 



68 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



those of the mesophyll. The seeds have a large thick-walled endo- 
sperm as seen in the date and vegetable ivory. 

Sabal. — Saw Palmetto. — The ripe drupe of Sabal (Serenoa) 
serrulata (Fam. Palmse), a small palm found growing in sandy soil 
from South Carolina to Florida. The fruit is partially dried by arti- 
ficial means (Fig. 23). 




Fig. 23. — Saw palmetto (Sereona serrulata): A, fruiting branch; B, longitudinal 
section of fruit showing short stalk (s), epicarp (e), sarcocarp (&), endocarp; 
(n), and anatropous seed with raphe (a); C, cross-section of outer portion 
of fruit showing epidermis (c) composed of several layers of cells having a 
dark reddish-brown content, cells of sarcocarp (p) with reddish-brown con- 
tent and oil; D, a sclerotic cell from the sarcocarp showing the fine radiating 
pores and concentric lamellae of the wall; E, sclerotic cells from endocarp; 
F, cross-section of portion of seed showing epidermal cells (e), large paren- 
chyma cells (p), inner epidermis (x), perisperm (r), endosperm (n); G, some 
thick-walled endosperm cells from the inner portion of seed. 

The saw palmetto is characterized by having a creeping root- 
stock or rhizome one end of which rises a short distance above 



SAW PALMETTO 69 

ground, this portion being surmounted by a dense crown of leaves. 
The petioles are slender and spinose on the edges; the blade is fan- 
shaped and consists of a number of palmate divisions which are 
slightly cleft at the summit. The inflorescence is densely tomentose 
and shorter than the leaves. The fruit is a 1-seeded drupe (Fig. 23). 




Fig. 24. — Original packages of Saw Palmetto Berries (Sabal). 
graph by Parke, Davis & Co. 



After a photo- 



Description — Drupe superior, ellipsoidal, ovoid or somewhat 
globular, 1.5 to 3 cir long. 1 to 1.5 cm in diameter; externally brown- 
ish-black, smooth somewhat oily, with a few large, somewhat angular 
depressions due to the contraction of the inner layer on drying; sum- 
mit marked by remains of style; base marked by stem-scar or with 
remains of stem; epicarp and sarcocarp together forming a thin cori- 



70 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



aceous shell enclosing a hard but thin endocarp which is externally 
reddish-brown and somewhat fibrous, as is also the inner layer of the 
sarcocarp; inner layer of endocarp smooth, enclosing an ellipsoidal 
or ovoid, hard, somewhat flattened, anatropous, reddish-brown seed 
which is marked on the raphe side by an arillus-like appendage and 
on the opposite side near the end by the micropyle, which forms a 
slight projection; internally, with a large endosperm of thick-walled 
parenchyma and a very small embryo at the micropyle; odor pro- 
nounced, aromatic and fruity; taste sweetish, aromatic and slightly 
acrid. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 23. 




Fig. 25. — Areca Catechu (Betel-nut palm). A, upper portion of an inflores- 
cence bearing staminate flowers; B, enlarged view of staminate flower; 
C, 3 stamens; D, upper part of ovary with 3 styles; E, a branch bearing 4 
pistillate flowers in the lower portion and 2 staminate flowers above; F, 
a pistillate flower with bracts removed showing the calyx; G, an ovary 
with rudimentary stamen; HI, longitudinal section through ovary; H2 
the same giving a magnified view of the ovule; J, section through a berry 
showing the fibrous sarcocarp and the seed covered by reticulated branches 
of the raphe; K, section of seed showing the ruminating endosperm with 
small embryo near the base. — After Drude. 



Constituents. — A " so-called" volatile oil consisting of a mixture 
of ethyl esters of fatty acids. It is formed by the condensation of 
the free fatty acids, which are naturally contained in the berries, 
with ethyl alcohol, the preservative. The fresh berries contain 
traces of a volatile oil, which is semi-solid, resembling that of the 



COCOANUT 



71 



cocoanut. The berries also contain an enzyme lipase. (Mann, 
Bull. Univ. Wis., No. 767, 1915). 

Literature. — Kraemer, Practical Drug., 1910, 28, p. 97. 

Semen Arecle. — Areca Nut or Betel Nut. — The seed of Areca 
Catechu (Fam. Falmse). A beautiful tall palm very extensively 
cultivated in southeastern Asia and the East Indies. The Areca nut 
(Fig. 25) is very highly esteemed by the people of the East as a mas- 
ticatory. The powdered nut is used to some extent as a vermifuge 
both upon lower animals and man. The seeds are 20 to 25 mm. long, 
conical, grayish-brown, with numerous spiral, reddish veins, heavy, 
hard, somewhat aromatic, astringent and slightly acrid. They con- 
tain about 0.1 per cent of an oily liquid alkaloid, arecoline, which 
chemically and in its physiological action resembles pelletierine; 14 
per cent of tannin, resembling catechutannic acid; gallic acid; a 
red coloring principle; and 14 per cent of a fixed oil. They also con- 
tain three other alkaloids: arecaine, arecaidine and guvacine, but 
these do not seem to give the drug its properties. 

Literature. — Zornig, Arzneidrogen, p. 576. 

Cocoanut. — Cocanut. — The Cocoanut palm (Cocus nucifera) 
growing in the coast regions of all tropical countries, yields the cocoa- 
nut of the market and is probably one of the most useful palms to the 
natives, furnishing as it does, food, clothing, utensils of all kinds, 
building materials, etc. 

The following classification of the products obtained from the 
Cocoanut palm has been prepared by Toothaker of the Philadelphia 
Museum and shows the manifold uses of this palm. 

p _ / Cocoanut oil 

I for soap, cooking, etc. 



COCOANUT 
PALM 



Fruit 



Trunk 



Leaves 



, Flower spathe 



/Oil Cake 
\ for cattle food 
Milk — (A nourishing drink) 
Shell — (For household articles) 

( Ropes 
Husk — Coir fiber \ Carpets 

i Brushes, etc. 
rWood (" Porcupine" wood) for cabinet work, 
\ for construction, for fire wood 
For thatching, plaiting, mat making, basket 

making, etc. 
Young leaves (food) 

Palm sugar or "Jaggery" 
{ Unfermented 
J Fermented (Toddy) 
| either Distilled (Ar- 
[ rack) or Vinegar 



[ Liquor 



72 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Cocoanut Oil. — The ripe kernels of the Cocoanut are removed 
from the seeds, dried in the sun, the resulting product being known 
as " copra." This is then shipped to Europe and other countries 
and a fixed oil is obtained either by extraction or pressure, using a 
hydraulic press. Cocoanut oil at ordinary temperatures is of the 
consistence of lard, is colored white or pearl-white and has a peculiar 
odor and taste. The unrefined oil readily becomes rancid and 
acquires a very disagreeable flavor and taste. It closely resembles 
palm-nut oil in its chemical composition, with the exception of the 
relative proportion of palmitic acid. Cocoanut oil may be regarded 
as the one edible oil which approximates in constitution ordinary 
butter. 

Cocoanut Shells. — The endocarp of the fruit, while used as a 
household article by the natives, is to some extent ground up and 
used extensively as an adulterant of powdered foods and drugs. 
The presence of cocoanut shells may be detected by their yellow stone 
cells, which have thick yellow walls with branching pores and dark- 
brown contents. The stone cells vary from polygonal and isodia- 
metric shape, to cylindrical and wedge-shaped forms that are quite 
characteristic. In addition there occur fragments of long thick- 
walled, porous fibers with accompanying stegmatic cells, each con- 
taining a spheroidal, tuberculated silicious granule. The dark- 
brown fragments in the powder are not affected by bleaching agents, 
such as Schulze's macerating solution. 

Double Cocoanut. — The fruit of Lodoicea sechellarum, a palm 
growing in some of the Seychelles Islands. It is the largest sized 
fruit growing on shrubs or trees, being about 3 dm. in length, nearly 
3 dm. in width and about 1.5 dm. in thickness. It is shaped like a 
beef-kidney, consisting of two symmetrical halves joined at the upper 
portions. The outer surface is smooth, of a grayish-brown color and 
marked by long longitudinal wrinkles. It consists of a very hard 
shell from 4 to 6 mm. in thickness and encloses an edible endosperm 
similar to that of the true cocoanut. Many fabulous stories have 
had their inception in the double cocoanut and it is considered a sov- 
ereign antidote in poisoning. 

Palm Oil. — A fixed oil obtained from the fleshy part of the fruit 
of Elseis guineensis, a palm of western Africa and cultivated in other 
tropical countries. The oil has the consistency of butter, a reddish- 
yellow color, an agreeable odor and a pleasant taste. It is chiefly 
used for making soap and in the manufacture of galvanized iron, the 
oil being spread over the hot iron surface to preserve it from oxidation 
until it is dipped into the bath of melted tin. 



INDIAN TURNIP 73 



ARACE£), OR ARUM FAMILY 

A family of mostly tropical plants characterized by an inflor- 
escence consisting of a spadix placed within a spathe. There are 
about 900 species mostly of tropical and sub-tropical countries, only 
about 1 per cent growing in temperature regions. The latter are 
mostly perennial herbs possessing rhizomes or acrid corms. The 
inner morphology is not constant, some genera containing character- 
istic spicular cells; a few contain tannic acid; others contain oil 
cells as in calamus, and quite a number contain laticiferous cells. 
Some of the plants are highly ornamental and are extensively culti- 
vated as the Caladiums. One of the species, Caladium sequinum, of 
the West Indies and South America, possess a very acrid principle 
and when chewed causes the tongue to swell and produces temporary 
dumbness, whence the name " Dumb Cane " is derived. 

Rhizoma Aronis. — Aronwurzel, Calf's Foot Root, Cuckow 
Pint Root. — The carefully dried rhizome (corm) of the European 
Arum, Arum maculatum and its varieties (Fam. Aracese), perennial 
herbs growing in middle and southern Europe. The tubers are 
gathered in the fall or spring, preferably the latter, the outer layers 
removed, cut transversely into slices and carefully dried. 

Description. — In discs from 2 to 5 cm. in diameter and 4 to 8 
mm. in thickness, whitish; fracture mealy, somewhat horny; scat- 
tered, somewhat irregular fibro vascular bundles; taste pungent. 

Inner Structure. — A brown corky layer; numerous thin- walled 
starch-bearing parenchyma and a few cells containing long raphides 
of calcium oxalate; fibrovascular bundles scattered and distributed 
irregularly; starch grains mostly single and from 2- to 4-compound, 
the individual grains spheroidal from 0.005 to 0.010 mm. in diam- 
eter and with a small central circular marking. 

Constituents. — From 0.004 to 0.005 per cent of a liquid alkaloid 
resembling coniine; 0.1 per cent of a glucoside, arin, which appears 
to be in the nature of a saponin; 70 per cent of starch; and calcium 
oxalate, sugar, mucilage and a fixed oil. 

Allied Plants. — The drug is sometimes prepared from the corms of 
Arum Dracunculus and A. italicum, which are larger in size than the 
genuine article. 

Arum. — Indian Turnip, Jack-in-the-Pulpit. — The corm of 
Arissema triphyllum, a common plant of the Aracese growing in 
rich woods in eastern North America. The corms are gathered, cut 
transversely into pieces and dried. 



74 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Description. — The entire corm is ovoid, from 1 to 3 cm. in length 
and 1 to 5 cm. in diameter; outer surface dark brown, deeply wrink- 
led, the summit depressed and near which arise numerous rather coarse 
roots; taste acrid especially when recently gathered. 

Inner Structure. — Resembling the European Arum (Rhizoma 
Aronis). Consult Holm, Merck's Report, 1911, p. 66. 

Constituents. — Probably the same as in the European Arum. 

Calamus. — Sweet Flag. — The dried, unpeeled rhizome of 
Acorus Calamus (Fam. Aracese), a perennial herb widely distributed 
in all north-temperate regions. The commercial supplies are obtained 
from the United States, Germany, England, Russia and India. 
The rhizomes are collected in autumn, the drug from India being the 
more aromatic, whereas the German product, on account of the 
removal of the outer portion of the rhizome, is probably the least 
aromatic. A confection was at one time made by " candying " 
the fresh rhizome. 

Description. — Horizontal, cylindrical, slightly compressed, usually 
split longitudinally into pieces 5 to 15 cm. long, 5 to 12 mm. in diam- 
eter; externally light brown or yellowish green, annulate from rem- 
nants of circular bud-scales, upper surface with triangular leaf-scars 
or hair-like fibers of fibrovascular tissue, the sides with large circular 
branch-scars, and the under and side portions with root-scars or short 
fragments of roots; fracture short; internally light brown, distinctly 
porous, with numerous intercellular spaces, endodermis distinct; 
odor aromatic ; taste strongly aromatic. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 26. 

Powder. — Light brown; tracheae spiral, scalariform or reticulate; 
sclerenchymatous fibers slightly lignified, with oblique simple pores; 
starch grains nearly spheroidal, 0.004 to 0.008 mm. in diameter; 
crystal fibers containing monoclinic crystals of calcium oxalate; 
oil-secretion cells with suberized walls; contents of parenchymatous 
cells colored ruby-red by a strong alcoholic solution of vanillin and 
hydrochloric acid. The powder of the peeled rhizome is less aromatic, 
and cells of the epidermis and cork, and crystal fibers are wanting. 
The yield of aqueous extract should be between 18 and 20 per cent. 
Powdered calamus has been reported as being admixed with as much 
as 30 per cent of diatomaceous earth. 

An Indian variety contains from 1 to 2.5 per cent of oil and is 
mostly preferred. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil 1.5 to 3.5 per cent, having the odor 
and taste of the drug; acorin, a bitter, viscid, aromatic glucosidal 
principle, which when hydrolized in a current of hydrogen yields oil 



CALAMUS 



75 



2 




End 



Fig. 26. — Calamus. A, transverse section of rhizome showing epidermis (Ep) 
and collenchyma (Coll.). B, cells of cortex showing isodiameteric, thin- 
walled parenchyma (P) separated by large intercellular spaces (/) and an oil 
cell (0) ; C, section of part of stele of rhizome showing cortical parenchyma 
(C); cells of endodermis (End) with thin walls and Casparyan spots (S); 
stereomatic pericycle (St); leptome (L) and vessels or tracheae (H); D, 
portion of pith showing starch-bearing parenchyma (P) ; intercellular spaces 
(/) and large oil cells (0). E, a leptome strand from the pith of the rhizome 
showing leptome (L) surrounded by sclerenchymatous fibers or stereome. 
F, a stereome strand from the pith of the rhizome consisting entirely of 



76 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

of calamus; choline (trimethyl-oxyethyl ammonium hydrate), a 
strong, non-poisonous base, and formerly known as calamine; a 
soft resin about 2.3 per cent; tannin; mucilage; starch and calcium 
oxalate. 

COMMELINACE^, OR SPIDERWORT FAMILY 

Annual or perennial herbs, mostly indigenous to the tropics and 
represented by nearly 400 species. It is represented in the United 
States by Tradescantia and Commelina, some of the species of the 
latter being used in medicine. 

Commelina. — Day Flower. — The entire plant of Commelina 
communis, a perennial herb growing in the United States south of 
New York and west to Kansas and Texas. The stem is procumbent 
or creeping and the plant produces roots at the nodes rather freely. 
The leaves are broadly lanceolate, being acute at the summit and 
contracted at the base into sheathing petioles. The floral leaves are 
large, heart-shaped, clasping bracts enclosing 2 to 4 flowers arranged 
in cymes. The fruit is a 3-locular capsule containing 1 or 2 seeds in 
each locule. The seeds are oblong, about 2 mm. in length and retic- 
ulated. For illustrations of morphology see Fig. 27. 

Commelina probably contains a small amount of an alkaloid 
and a glucoside; mucilage 13 per cent and starch 0.5 per cent. The 
drug has hemostatic properties. Several species of Commelina 
growing in Mexico are also used for the same purpose. 

Literature. — Herrera, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1897, p. 290; Preston, 
Ibid., 1898, p. 321. 

LILIACE^;, OR LILY FAMILY 

They are mostly perennial herbs having bulbs or tubers and 
rarely fibrous roots. There are about 2500 species and are found in 
nearly all portions of the globe. A few are used in medicine, some 
furnish food products, but their chief interest is in their ornamental 
uses. The leaves are for the most part parallel-veined and the flowers 
are regular and with 6 stamens. There are no striking anatomical 

sclerenchymatous fibers. G, a leptocentric mestome strand from the pith 
of the rhizome showing leptome (L) tracheae or vessels (H) and sclerenchy- 
matous fibers (St). H, transverse section of root stele showing endodermis 
(End) ; pericambium (P) ; a 7-rayed hadrome (H) consisting of large tracheae 
surrounded by sclerenchymatous fibers; leptome (L) only indicated by V- 
shaped open spaces. /, transverse section of part of root stele showing 
tangential cell division on the inner flank of the leptome; letters as in H. — 
After Holm. 



DAY FLOWER 



77 



characteristics; the fibrovascular bundles are concentric and arranged 
in several rows outside of which and within the endodermis is a ring 
of sclerenchymatous fibers. The underground organs usually con- 
tain starch and not infrequently mucilage cells enclosing raphides. 

Helonias. — False Unicorn Root. — The dried rhizome and 
roots of Chamselirium luteum (Fam. Liliacse). The plant commonly 




Fig. 27. — Commelina communis. A, part of flowering branch. B, portion of the 
prostrate stem. C, transverse section of stem showing epidermal layer (E) ; 
a collenchymatous layer composed of from 3 to 6 rows of cells (C); 
cortical parenchyma (P); a well-defined cylinder sheath (S) composed 
of rather large and strongly lignified cells and in which in the entire section 
are included about 14 fibrovascular bundles (F), parenchyma of the pith 
(M) in which are scattered fibrovascular bundles (F). D, a collateral 
fibrovascular bundle. — After Preston. 

known as Blazing Star was formerly called by botanists Helonias 
dioica, the name first given to it by Pursh. It was for some time also 
referred to as Chamselirium carolinanum. The name now generally 
applied is the Linnsean name, Chamselirium luteum, which was 
restored by Gray in the 5th edition of his Manual. While to those 
who are acquainted with taxonomy this use of synonomy is intelligible 



78 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



yet it is apt to produce a certain amount of confusion by drug col- 
lectors, as the generic name Helonias is applied to the Swamp Pink, a 
beautiful bog plant occasionally rather abundant in certain localities 
from New York to Virginia. 

Chamoelirium Luteum is a perennial, dioecious herb having a 
rather fleshy bitter rhizome, a number of basal leaves which vary 
from lanceolate to elliptical-spatulate and an herbaceous slender 
stem from 3 to 5 dm. in length terminated by a spike-like raceme of 
small white flowers. It grows in moist meadows and thickets 
throughout the eastern United States. The plant is quite readily 




Fig. 28. — Several types of Helonias rhizome: A, oblique rhizome with stem 
base and two stem scars; B, upright rhizome showing new growth at top. 
(Moser, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1917, 89, p. 191). 



distinguished from Helonias bullata, which produces a short upright 
rhizome, very long elliptical-spatulate or oblanceolate leaves which 
are crowded at the base and from the middle of which arises the 
bracteate scape usually not longer than the leaves and terminated 
by a dense raceme of rather large, perfect purple flowers. The latter 
grows in bogs and appears to be localized in its habitat. 

Description. — Rhizome upright, or oblique, nearly cylindrical 
and slightly tapering from 0.5 to 3 cm. long, about 1 cm. in diameter; 
externally grayish-brown, annulate from scars of bud-scales, upper 
portion with leaf bases enclosing a small bud, lower portion with 



VERATRUM 79 

numerous whitish or pale yellowish nearly straight or slightly curved 
wiry roots, free from the cortical layer, from 5 to 8 cm. long, and 
numerous pits from which former roots once protruded; fracture 
hard and horny; internally grayish-yellow, cortex 3 to 4 mm. thick, 
central cylinder with three or four circles of small nearly circular 
flbrovascular bundles ; odor distinct; taste bitter, slightly astringent. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 28. 

Constituents. — A bitter glucoside, chamselirin, about 10 per 
cent. This is a light yellowish-red amorphous substance, soluble 
in water, causing the solutions to froth like saponin. It is also 
soluble in alcohol, sparingly soluble in ether and insoluble in chloro- 
form, petroleum benzin and benzol. With dilute acids it forms a 
resinous body, chamaeliretin, which is also soluble in water. The 
so-called neutral substance known as helonin is merely a hydro- 
alcoholic extract prepared from the drug and is a mixture of prin- 
ciples. 

Adulterants. — The rhizome of several species of Liatris, especially 
L. spicata (Fam. Composite) is said to have been substituted for 
Helonias. These rhizomes have an aromatic, somewhat terebin- 
thinate odor and a bitter more or less acrid taste. They contain 
0.1 per cent of a volatile oil; 5 per cent of resin and 2 per cent of a 
caoutchouc-like substance. 

Literature. — Greene, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1878, p. 250; Henry, 
Ibid., 1892, p. 603. 

Veratrum. — The rhizome and roots of Veratrum viride (Fam. 
Liliaceae), a perennial herb (Fig. 29) found growing in wet meadows 
usually associated with skunk cabbage (Spathyema fcetida), and 
indigenous to the eastern and central United States and naturalized 
in Canada, British Columbia and Alaska; and Veratrum album, a 
similar plant, indigenous to Central and Southern Europe, the former 
being known as American or green hellebore and the latter as Euro- 
pean or white hellebore. The plant dies down early in the summer 
and the rhizome may be collected soon thereafter. It is cut longi- 
tudinally and dried. Much of the drug used in this country is 
derived from Veratrum album and imported from Germany. 

American or Green Hellebore. — Rhizome upright, obconical, 
usually cut longitudinally into halves or quarters, 2.5 to 5 cm. long, 
1.5 to 3 cm. in diameter; externally dark brown or brownish-black, 
rough and wrinkled, somewhat annulate from scars of bud-scales, 
top truncate, lower part more or less decayed, with numerous roots 
and few root-scars; fracture hard and horny; internally light yellow, 
cortex 2 to 3 mm. thick, endodermis distinct, central cylinder with 



80 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



scattered yellow fibro vascular bundles; odor slight; taste bitter 
and acrid. 

Roots yellowish-brown, nearly cylindrical, 3 to 8 cm. long, 2 to 
3 mm. in diameter; externally yellowish-brown, longitudinally or 
transversely wrinkled; internally, bark white, 1 to 2 mm. thick; 
wood porous, cylindrical; fracture short. 




Fig. 29.— Plants of Veratrum viride growing in the Royal Botanic Society's 
Gardens (London) and showing the parallel veined (or nerved) leaves with 
entire margin, and the large terminal panicles of flowers. — After Perredes. 



European or White Hellebore closely resembles the American 
Hellebore, but the color varies from light- to yellowish-brown and 
usually the rootlets are removed. 

The drug should be kept in tightly closed vessels, and the leaf 
and stem bases, if present, should be removed. 



VERATRUM 



81 



Inner Structure. — See Figs. 30, 31. Also Meyer, Arch, der 
Pharm., 1882, p. 80. 

Powder. — Grayish-brown to dark brown; strongly sternutatory; 
starch grains numerous, from 0.003 to 0.020 mm. in diameter, spher- 
oidal or ellipsoidal, single or 2- to 3-compound, the individual grains 
having a circular central cleft and often being swollen or otherwise 
more or less altered; calcium oxalate in raphides, from 0.015 to 0.150 
mm. in length; fragments with tracheae, the walls being more or less 
strongly lignified and marked with scalariform or reticulate thicken- 




Fig. 30. — Cross-section of rhizome of Veratrum viride; a, section of a root near 
its origin; b, endodermis; c, one of \,he wavy fibro vascular bundles in the 
cortex; d, parenchyma; e, fibro vascular bundle of the central cylinder; /, 
parenchyma. — After Bastin. 



ings, frequently containing a lemon-yellow substance and associated 
with narrow, slightly lignified, porous, sclerenchymatous fibers; 
endodermal cells thickened on the inner tangential wall, occasional 
reddish-brown or brownish-black cork fragments. The powders of 
Veratrum album and Veratrum viride cannot be distinguished one 
from the other by their microscopic characters, but appear to differ 
chemically; a mount of V. viride in concentrated sulphuric acid 
gives a yellowish-red color and that of V. album a dull red color. 



82 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



The so-called powdered hellebore, used as an insecticide by gardeners, 
consists of either V. album or V. viride, the former being mostly 
employed. 

Constituents of Veratrum Album. — The drug contains a number 
of alkaloids, of which the most important is protoveratrine, which 
occurs to the extent of 0.03 per cent and forms monoclinic prisms 
which are insoluble in water, soluble in strong alcohol, and with con- 
centrated sulphuric acid give a greenish-colored solution which 
gradually changes to blue and finally to violet. It also contains 
the following alkaloids which are physiologically inactive or but 




Fig. 31. — Several parenchyma cells from rhizome of Veratrum viride: a, cell 
containing starch grains; 6, cell containing raphides of calcium oxalate. — 
After Bastin. 



feebly toxic: jervine (0.10 to 0.13 per cent) forms satiny, lustrous 
prisms which are colored yellow with hydrochloric acid, the solution 
afterwards changing to green; rubijervine (about 0.005 per cent) 
forms long prisms which are colored yellow with concentrated sul- 
phuric acid, the solution becoming orange and finally red; pseudo- 
jervine forms hexagonal prisms which are colored yellow with con- 
centrated sulphuric acid; protoveratridine is a decomposition product 
of protoveratrine and forms cubical prisms which are colored violet 
with concentrated sulphuric acid, the solution afterward becoming 



VERATRUM 83 

cherry-red. Veratrum also contains a bitter glucoside veratra- 
marin; jervic acid, which is identical with chelidonic acid, and crys- 
tallizes in silky needles; considerable starch; ash 3 to 4 per cent; 
and calcium oxalate in the form of r aphides. 

Constituents of Veratrum Viride. — Green hellebore contains 
about 0.08 per cent of total alkaloids. Of these about one-half con- 
sists of cevadine, an exceedingly toxic ether-soluble alkaloid, also 
found in Sabadilla seeds, which crystallizes in needles and gives a 
violet color on warming with nitric acid, the solution changing to 
scarlet-red on boiling. The remainder consists chiefly of the ether- 
insoluble alkaloids jervine and pseudojervine, both of which are 
found in Veratrum album; a small quantity of Veratrine, that occurs 
as an amorphous, resinous mass which is colored yellow with concen- 
trated sulphuric acid, the solution becoming deep red (thus resembling 
protoveratrine) ; and veratalbine, an amorphous alkaloid. Vera- 
troidine is now considered to be a mixture of amorphous bases. 

Allied Plants. — The rhizome of Veratrum viridifolium, a plant 
with greenish flowers growing in the mountainous districts of Europe 
and Northern Asia, contains jervine and veratroidine. The rhizome 
of Veratrum nigrum, a plant with purplish-red flowers, indigenous to 
Middle and Eastern Europe, Siberia, Manchuria and Japan, con- 
tains jervine. 

Sabadilla seeds are the source of the official veratrine. They 
are obtained from Schcenocaulon officinale (Fam. Liliacese), a bul- 
bous plant indigenous to Mexico and the West Indies. The seeds 
are brownish-black, 5 to 8 mm. long, narrow, angular, flat, beaked 
and have a very bitter and acrid taste. They are frequently exported 
from Mexico in the small trilocular dehiscent capsules, there being 
3 to 6 seeds in each loculus. They contain about 1 per cent of a mix- 
ture of alkaloids known as veratrine. This consists of cevadine and 
veratrine (veratridine) , both of which are found in the rhizome of 
Veratrum viride, and three other alkaloids : cevadilline, sabadine and 
sabadinine, the latter two being crystalline. 

Death Camas. — One or more species of Zygadenus, growing in 
Montana, Wyoming, Colorado and other Northwestern States, cause 
considerable loss to the stock men of this region. The entire plant 
including bulbs, leaves and flowers are eaten, particularly by sheep, 
and are highly toxic, causing heavy stock losses, particularly among 
sheep. Slade investigated the bulbs of Zygadenus venonosus and 
obtained an alkaloid resembling veratralbine. Heyl and others 
obtained from the leaves of Z. intermedius a crystalline alkaloid, 
zygadenine, which resembles in its physiological action veratrine. 



84 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Literature. — Slade, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1905, p. 262; Heyl and 
others, Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 1911, p. 206; Ibid., 1913, p. 258; 
Ibid., 1913, p. 803. 

Black Hellebore consists of the rhizome and roots of Helleborus 
niger (Fam. Ranunculaceae), a perennial herb indigenous to the 
Eastern and Southern Alps and also cultivated. The rhizome is 2.5 
to 7.5 cm. long, 6 to 12 mm. in diameter; with numerous short, 
knotty branches and short, brittle roots; externally, of a grayish- 
black color; internally, with a characteristic dicotyledonous structure; 
odor slight; taste sweet, somewhat bitter and acrid. The drug con- 
tains two crystalline glucosides; helleborin, a narcotic poison with a 
burning taste, and helleborein, a cardiac stimulant and having a 
sweetish taste. The former gives a violet-red color with concentrated 
sulphuric acid and the latter a deep violet color with the same reagent. 
The drug also contains a volatile oil, two acrid resins, an acrid fixed 
oil, aconitic acid and gallates of calcium and potassium. 

The rhizome of Helleborus viridis (so-called " Green Hellebore ") 
a plant found in Middle and Southern Europe, has been used similarly 
to that of H. niger. It contains the same principles as H. niger, the 
helleborein apparently predominating. 

False Hellebore is the entire herb of Adonis vernalis (Fam. 
Ranunculaceae) and other species of Adonis indigenous to Europe 
and Asia. The drug contains adonidin, a mixture of several prin- 
ciples, the most important being the amorphous glucoside picra- 
donidin, a principle resembling digitalin in its physiologic action. 

Colchici Cormus. — Colchicum Corm. — The corm of Col- 
chicum autumnale (Fam. Liliaceae), a perennial bulbous plant 
native of and growing in moist meadows and pastures of England, 
Southern and Middle Europe and Northern Africa. The corm is 
collected in early summer before the flowering period, deprived of 
the membranous, scaly coat, cut into transverse pieces, and dried at 
a temperature of 65° C. Tubers that are collected in the fall, either 
during the flowering season or later, are considered to be more active. 
The commercial supply is obtained from England and Germany. 

Description. — Obconical, with a groove on one side, sometimes 
with fragments of the flower-stalk, usually in transverse, reniform 
sections from 15 to 20 mm. long, about 12 mm. wide and 3 to 5 mm. 
thick; externally dark brown, longitudinally wrinkled; fracture 
short, mealy; internally light brown, with numerous scattered 
fibro vascular bundles; odor slight; taste bitter and acrid. 

Inner Structure. — Consisting mostly of starch-bearing paren- 
chyma and a few scattered concentric fibrovascular bundles having 



COLCHICUM 



85 



spiral tracheae and thin-walled sclerenchymatous fibers. The 
epidermis consists of tangentially-elongated thick-walled cells having 
yellowish-brown walls. The addition of sulphuric acid to the sec- 
tion causes some of the tissues to become yellow, changing to red. 

Powder. — (Fig. 32). Light brown or grayish-brown; starch 
grains numerous, single or 2- to 6-compound, the individual grains 
varying from spheroidal or ovoid to polygonal, and marked with a 

<$ o 

°«§ 

Wo 





*s>&?. 



o 







&>^Q-\\ 



Fig. 32. — Colchicum corm: S, 2- to 4-compound starch grains which make up 
the greater proportion of the powder; P, parenchyma with numerous starch 
grains; T, tracheae; E, sieve. 



triangular or star-shaped, central cleft, from 0.003 to 0.030 mm. in 
diameter; tracheae few and with spiral or scalariform thickenings; 
occasional fragments of epidermal cells with thick, reddish-brown 
walls. 

Constituents. — A yellowish, amorphous alkaloid, colchicine, 
about 0.4 per cent, which has a peculiar odor, particularly on heating 
slightly, is soluble in hot water and gives with concentrated sulphuric 
acid a yellowish solution which is colored deep red on heating. If 



86 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY ' 

the sulphuric acid contains a mere trace of nitric acid the solution 
of the alkaloid becomes yellowish-green, green, bluish-green, blue, 
violet, wine-red and finally yellow. The salts of colchicine are quite 
unstable. The drug also contains the alkaloid colchiceine, which 
crystallizes in needles and is apparently formed during the extraction 
of the drug by reason of the decomposition of colchicine. The latter 
may be formed on the esterification of colchiceine with methyl 
alcohol. The corm also contains two resins ; a large amount of starch ; 
ash about 2.5 per cent. 

Colchici Semen. — Colchicum Seed. — The dried, ripe seeds of 
Colchicum autumnale (Fam. Liliaceae), a perennial bulbous plant, 
native of and growing in moist meadows in Southern and Middle 
Europe and Northern Africa. The commercial supplies come chiefly 
from England and Germany. 

Description. — Hemi-anatropous, ovoid or irregularly globular, 
more or less beaked, with an easily detachable strophiole, 2 to 3 
mm. in diameter; externally dark brown, becoming darker with age, 
minutely pitted, the epidermis detached in irregular patches in older 
seeds; frequently agglutinated when fresh, due to the presence of a 
saccharine exudation; very hard when dry, tough when damp, inter- 
nally whitish, endosperm hard, embryo 0.5 mm. long and situated 
at end opposite the strophiole; nearly inodorous; taste feeble, bitter 
and somewhat acrid. 

Constituents. — Proteins; fixed oil about 6 per cent; a tannin-like 
substance in the seed coat ; starch grains in the caruncle; an alkaloid 
colchicine 0.4 to 0.6 per cent (0.55 per cent required by the U.S.P.); 
a resinous principle colchicoresin ; ash about 2.5 per cent. 

Inner Structure. — Seed-coat consisting of 6 or 8 rows of more or 
less collapsed cells; endosperm made up of numerous thick-walled 
porous cells containing oil globules and aleurone grains, the latter 
being from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. .in diameter; embryo small, the 
beaked portion, or caruncle, containing numerous, somewhat ovoid, 
ellipsoidal or polygonal starch grains, from 0.005 to 0.016 mm. in 
diameter. 

Powder. — Light or dark brown; sclerenchymatous cells with 
pigment soluble in potassium hydrate solution, and reacting with 
iron salts somewhat like tannin; cells of endosperm thick-walled, 
with simple pores and few oil globules; parenchymatous cells of 
strophiole thin-walled, and with numerous nearly spheroidal starch 
grains 0.007 to 0.015 mm. in diameter. 

Aloe. — Aloes. — The inspissated juice of the leaves of various 
species of Aloe (Fam. Liliaceae), perennial succulents (Fig. 33) 



ALOES 



87 



indigenous to Africa and India and naturalized in the West Indies. 
There are three principal commercial varieties of aloes: (1) Socotrine 
(and Zanzibar) Aloes, derived from Aloe Perryi, and probably other 
species of Aloe, growing on the island of Socotra and in Eastern 
Africa, and exported by way of Bombay; (2) Curacao (and Bar- 
badoes) Aloes, obtained from Aloe chinensis and Aloe vera, growing 
in Curacao and other islands of the Dutch West Indies; and (3) 
Cape and Uganda Aloes, obtained probably from Aloe ferox, growing 
in Southern Africa, and exported from Cape Town and Mossel Bay. 
The leaves of the Aloe plant are cut transversely and the juice which 



/ v iiV. T 










" - ■ ' . '•' 


E k- 




in 


i % m §& > i 

; ■: 3 '■ ■ ■ ' .••■■'■.'"•.■■;:'•! 




-; •;. ,■/■ . ,. >"' ,; ■'■•,'■ . V'.* 



Fig. 33. — A small clump of plants of Aloe Perryi growing in Minas Geraes, 
Brazil. The spinose, fleshy leaves are clustered at the base and from the 
middle of the cluster arises a scape terminated by a raceme of orange-red or 
scarlet flowers. The plant is native to the island of Socotra and the southern 
shores of the Red Sea, and is the source of Socotrine aloes. The latter is 
chiefly produced on the island of Socotra and consists of the inspissated 
juice of the leaves. — Reproduced by permission of the Philadelphia Com- 
mercial Museum. 



exudes is allowed to evaporate spontaneously, it being usually, 
however, concentrated by boiling and then poured into boxes 
(Fig. 34) or gourds, and occasionally it is found in commerce enclosed 
in monkey-skins (Fig. 35). Socotrine aloes commands the highest 



88 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

price. The latter variety when fresh has an unpleasant odor, but on 
keeping develops an odor resembling myrrh and saffron. 

1. Socotrine Aloes. — In yellowish-brown to dark-brown opaque 
masses, or smooth and glassy, fracture somewhat conchoidal; some- 
times soft or semi-liquid; odor saffron-like; taste, nauseous and 




Aloe vera, the plant yielding Barbadoes aloes. Showing crown of thick, 
succulent leaves and the long spike (inflorescence) with the flowers on the upper 
portion of the axis. — After Engler.^ 



bitter. Powder yellowish-brown or brownish-yellow, giving a 
yellowish or reddish-brown color with nitric acid. About 50 per cent 
of socotrine aloes is soluble in cold water. It is almost completely 



ALOES 89 

soluble in 60 per cent alcohol or in water at 100° C. On cooling the 
latter solution there separates from 40 to 60 per cent of the so-called 
" resin of aloes," which is soluble in alkalies with a red color and is 
reprecipitated on the addition of acids. About 36.6 per cent of aloes 
is soluble in chloroform, and from 4 to 5.5 per cent in ether, the 
solution being of a yellow color. It should contain not more than 
8 per cent of moisture and yield not more than 4 per cent of ash. 




Fig. 34. — Original packages of Curasao Aloes. After a photograph by Parke, 

Davis & Co. 



Zanzibar Aloes is a hepatic (or liver-colored) variety of Socotrine 
Aloes, produced by slowly evaporating the juice of the plant. It 
comes into market frequently in monkey-skins, has a dark-brown 
color, a dull, waxy fracture, and a nearly smooth, even surface. It is 
crystalline under the microscope and forms a reddish-yellow powder 
that is colored dark yellow with nitric acid. 



90 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



2. Curacao Aloes. — Orange to blackish-brown opaque masses, 
translucent in thin pieces; fracture uneven, waxy, somewhat resin- 
ous, occasionally exhibiting microscopical crystals of aloin; odor 
distinct, unpleasant; taste nauseous, ' bitter. The powder is dark 
reddish-brown and gives an immediate deep reddish color with cold 
nitric acid or with solutions of the alkalies. 

About 60 per cent of Curacao Aloes is soluble in cold water. 
It is almost completely soluble in 60 per cent alcohol or boiling 
water; on cooling the solution made with boiling water there sep- 
arates from 40 to 60 per cent of " resin of aloes," which is similar to 




Fig. 35. — Special containers used in the shipment of aloes, the one on the left 
being a gourd and is still commonly used; the other two being sewed up 
monkey-skins which are now only occasionally seen in the market. 



that of Socotrine aloes. About 66.6 per cent is soluble in chloroform 
and not less than 10 per cent in ether. It contains less than 8 per 
cent of moisture and yields from 1.5 to 4 per cent of ash. 

Barbadoes Aloes is a hepatic variety of Curacao Aloes, which 
is not obtained at the present time from Barbadoes, but from the 
Dutch West Indies. It occurs in dark brown, dull, opaque masses, 
giving a yellow powder that is colored red with nitric acid. About 



ALOES 91 

72.4 per cent of fresh and 62.8 per cent of old Barbadoes aloes is 
soluble in chloroform. It contains about 9 per cent of moisture. 

3. Cape Aloes. — Of a reddish-brown or of an olive-black color, 
usually covered with a yellowish powder, transparent in thin pieces; 
fracture smooth and glassy; odor characteristic; powder greenish- 
yellow, becoming light brown and giving a greenish color with nitric 
acid. 

About 60 per cent of Cape Aloes is soluble in cold water. It is 
almost completely soluble in alcohol or boiling water; and the latter 
solution gives a precipitate of 60 per cent of " resin of aloes." From 
81 to 86.8 per cent is soluble in chloroform, and from 1.5 to 6.5 per 
cent in ether. It contains about 9 per cent of moisture, and yields 
but a small percentage of ash. 

Uganda (or crown) Aloes is a hepatic variety of Cape Aloes pre- 
pared by allowing the juice to stand and undergo a partial fermenta- 
tion, after which the clear liquid is decanted and evaporated by 
exposure to the sun. It occurs in reddish-brown masses, producing 
a powder, which is colored yellow to brown with nitric acid. 

Microscopic Examination. — Powdered aloes may be examined 
under the microscope and is best mounted in one of the fixed 
oils. Socotrine aloes consists of yellowish- or reddish-brown, irregular 
and more or less angular fragments. In Curagao aloes the fragments 
are irregularly angular, blackish-brown or reddish-brown and more 
or less opaque. The fragments in Cape aloes are bright yellow and 
distinctly angular. 

Constituents. — A crystalline, bitter principle, aloin, the per- 
centage (4.5 to 30 per cent) and composition of which varies in the 
different varieties, and which is supposed to occur in largest amount 
in old aloes; emodin (see Rhubarb) ; a pale yellow, volatile oil, which 
is apparently not identical in the different varieties, giving them 
their characteristic odors; 13 to 63 per cent of resinous material, 
which consists chiefly of a resinotannol ester of cinnamic acid (Curagao 
and Barbadoes aloes) or of a resinotannol ester of paracumaric acid 
(Cape aloes) ; and 1 to 4 per cent of ash. 

Aloin is a neutral, bitter principle, which on distillation with zinc 
dust yields anthracene. It forms minute, lemon-yellow to yellowish- 
brown acicular crystals, which are sparingly soluble in water but 
more so in alcohol, the solutions becoming brown on standing (Fig. 
36, C). Alkaline solutions of aloin have a deep red color and exhibit 
a greenish-red fluorescence. Upon the addition of aloin to sulphuric 
acid a yellowish-red solution is formed, which, upon the addition of a 
small quantity of potassium dichromate is changed to olive-green 



92 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



and finally to a blue color. Ferric chloride gives a brownish-green 
color to an alcoholic solution of aloin. The amount of aloin varies 
from 4 to 10 per cent in Socotrine (Zanzibar) aloes, is about 6 per 
cent in Cape (Uganda) aloes and is stated to range from 10 to 30 
per cent in Curacao (Barbadoes) aloes. The aloin obtained from 
Curagao or Barbadoes aloes gives with nitric acid a cherry-red color 



A 



®0 



o 



do 






O 





4 H?^ 



f^n v\s 




Fig. 36. — Crystals from exudations and extracts; A, crystals found in the residue 
after treatment of catechu with water; B, long prisms of catechin (d) found 
on treatment of gambir with a solution of hydrated chloral, the crystals soon 
dissolving, and prismatic plates (e) usually seen in glycerin mounts of gam- 
bir; C, crystals from aloes, including aloin (a), broad prisms (6) from Bar- 
badoes aloes, and plates (c) from Cape aloes; D, crystals of benzoic acid 
obtained by subliming benzoin on a slide or in a watch crystal. 



or with Klunge's reagent a deep-red color. These color reactions are 
due to the presence of about 0.5 per cent of an isomeric body (iso- 
barbaloin), which is not found in the aloins of Socotrine and Cape 
aloes. Alcoholic solutions of barbaloin and isobarbaloin lose their 



ALOES 93 

bitterness on standing, the aloin being replaced in part at least by a 
sugar aloinose, which forms yellow crystals that are colored red and 
then green with concentrated hydrochloric acid and orcin. Aloin is 
considered by some to be an emodin-glucoside which on oxidation 
splits off emodin, the latter on further oxidation forming rhein. 

Stacy uses a freshly made solution of potassium ferri-cyanide 
which is added to the cold aqueous solution of aloes. This reagent 
gives a pink color for Barbadoes aloes in dilutions of 1 part in 10,000. 
Cape and Socotrine aloes give an emerald-green color as also does 
aloin. Extracts of cascara and rhubarb give no reaction. (The 
Analyst, 1916, p. 75.) 

Adulterants. — Aloes formerly contained various mechanical 
impurities, and this was the reason for the introduction of a purified 
aloes into the U. S. Pharmacopoeia. As heat impairs the quality of 
the aloes and as the requirements forbid adulteration the untreated 
aloes should be employed. The aloin is sometimes removed, as in 
the Curacao aloes, when it has the appearance of Cape aloes and is 
sometimes sold for it. Recently aloes has been coming into market 
packed in thin layers separated by paper. 

Allied Plants. — Natal Aloes is a hepatic variety of aloes which 
was at one time exported from Natal, the botanical origin being 
unknown. It occurs in grayish-brown or greenish-black, dull, opaque 
masses, often covered with a brownish powder. The odor somewhat 
resembles that of Cape aloes. The powder is grayish-green or pale 
yellowish-brown and microcrystalline, giving a permanent crimson 
color with nitric acid and a deep blue with sulphuric acid and vapor of 
nitric acid. The latter test serves to distinguish this aloes from all 
the other varieties. The drug contains aloin (nataloin), but not 
emodin. Both Natal aloes and nataloin are physiologically inactive. 

Jaffarabad Aloes is a vitreous variety obtained from the East 
Indies and is exported from Bombay. It occurs in circular, flat- 
tened cakes, of a deep black color externally, and with a black, glossy, 
slightly porous or somewhat laminated fracture. It yields 13 to 20 
per cent of aloin, which is apparently chiefly barbaloin, and gives a 
deep crimson color with nitric acid. 

Detection of Aloes in Mixtures. — According to Mossier (Pharm. 
Post, 1913, 46, 313, 325), the following method may be used for the 
detection of aloes in mixtures containing cascara, rhubarb, senna, etc. 
The extract, etc., is evaporated to drive off alcohol and the residue 
dissolved in water. The filtered solution is heated with 10 cc. of 
normal sulphuric acid for thirty minutes on the water-bath. The 
sulphuric acid is then exactly precipitated with barium hydroxide 



94 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

solution and the barium sulphate removed by filtration. The filtrate 
is concentrated to 100 c.c., treated with slight excess of basic lead- 
acetate solution in order to remove coloring-matter, and the filtrate 
treated with sodium sulphate solution to remove excess of lead. 
This liquid is then divided into several portions. One is extracted 
with benzol, and the benzol layer shaken with dilute ammonia water. 
Oxymethylanthraquinones derived from other drugs, which would 
interfere with the aloin test, should be completely precipitated by 
the lead acetate. If this is the case the ammoniacal layer will be 
only of the faintest rose color, whereas if precipitation be not com- 
plete the ammonia will be of a fine red color, and the bulk of the solu- 
tion must be again treated with basic lead acetate solution and the 
test repeated. When oxymethylanthraquinones are shown to be 
completely precipitated another small portion of the filtrate is 
treated with excess of bromine solution, which, in the presence of 
aloin, yields a flocculent precipitate. If this reaction be given, con- 
firmation should be obtained from the main bulk of the solution by 
shaking a 10-c.c. portion with 2 to 3 grams of sodium borate and 
allowing the solution to stand for a quarter of an hour. In the 
presence of aloes a green fluorescence appears. Another portion of 
10 c.c. is heated with a drop of hydrogen peroxide and a drop of copper 
sulphate solution. A red coloration, becoming intensified on stand- 
ing, indicates the presence of aloes. Samples free from aloes give 
an orange color, which does not alter on standing. It is claimed that 
0.2 gram of extract of aloes in the presence of 5 grams of a mixture 
of extracts of rhubarb and cascara, etc., can be detected. 

Allium. — Garlic. — The undried bulb of Allium sativum and 
the var. vulgare (Fam. Liliacese). A hardy perennial plant closely 
allied to the onion. It is a native of Southern Europe and exten- 
sively cultivated. The bulb is the part used and is composed of sev- 
eral parts or bulbels, called " cloves." The latter are planted sim- 
ilarly to the sets. The bulbs are gathered and braided together by 
their tops and in this form are usually seen in the market. Garlic 
should be used in the fresh condition only. 

Description. — Bulb subglobular, 4 to 6 cm. broad, compound, 
consisting of 8 to 15 bulbels and surrounded by 1 or 2 dry, whitish, 
membranaceous scales and attached to a flattened circular base, 
from the lower portion of which arise numerous yellowish-white 
roots; bulbels more or less ovoid, in transverse section 3- to 4-sided, 
the outer surface being convex, summit acute and narrowed into a 
thread-like fibrous portion, base truncate; each bulbel covered by 
one or two layers of whitish, membranaceous, scale-like leaves, 



SQUILL 95 

beneath which is the light brown and pinkish, thin and coriaceous 
layer of epidermis, cohering but easily separable from the solid por- 
tion of the bulbel; odor of broken or bruised bulbel aromatic, dis- 
agreeable; taste intensely pungent and persistent. 

Inner Structure. — Transverse sections show: (a) an outer fleshy 
scale, (b) a middle scale, and (c) in the center a bright green leaf 
folded lengthwise along the midrib so that the ventral surfaces he 
close together. The outer and middle scales consist chiefly of 
parenchyma enclosing scattered vascular bundles. The paren- 
chyma cells of the middle scale contain numerous yellowish-brown 
plastids. 

Constituents. — From 0.005 to 0.009 per cent of a yellowish, 
volatile oil having a strong unpleasant odor. It contains sulphur 
and was formerly supposed to consist principally of allyl sulphide, 
but this was shown by Semmler not to be the case. Garlic also 
contains considerable mucilage and sugar, and a small quantity of a 
fixed oil. 

Scilla. — Squill. — The fleshy scales of the bulb of Urginea 
maritima (Fam. Liliacese), a perennial herb indigenous to the Med- 
iterranean region. The bulbs are collected late in August, and 
after the removal of the membranous outer scales and the central 
portion, the fleshy scales are cut into transverse pieces and dried in 
sunlight or by artificial heat. The article used in France is collected 
from bulbs having reddish scales and is obtained from Algeria and 
Malta. 

Description. — In irregular, curved, flat, narrow, somewhat 
translucent pieces 3 to 5 cm. long, 5 to 8 mm. wide, 2 to 7 mm. thick, 
whitish, lemon-yellow or light brown, epidermis forming a thin layer, 
mesophyll more or less shrunken, slightly crystalline and with numer- 
ous circular projections of fibro vascular bundles; fracture brittle 
when dry, tough when damp; odor slight; taste bitter and acrid. 

Inner Structure. — Epidermal layer of thin-walled cells and 
stomata; mesophyll of numerous slightly elongated, thin-walled 
parenchymatous cells, usually containing a crystalline sugar which 
readily separates in material placed in alcohol or glycerin. Inter- 
spersed among the parenchyma are a few concentric fibrovascular 
bundles (having spiral or reticulate tracheae) and numerous cells 
containing mucilage and raphides of calcium oxalate. The latter 
vary in length from 0.075 to 1.0 mm., or even longer. These crystals 
are probably the longest in any drug and alone serve to identify it. 

Powder. — Light yellow, and unless kept in a dry atmosphere 
shows a tendency to cake, and in this form it is very likely to be mis- 



96 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

taken for some gum. It is distinguished by the characteristic crystals 
of calcium oxalate and the few spiral or reticulate tracheae. 

Constituents. — Squill contains a number of active principles, 
of which the "most important are the amorphous glucoside scillitoxin, 
which resembles digitoxin physiologically, and scillipicrin, an amor- 
phous, bitter principle, which is employed as a diuretic. It also 
contains a yellow crystalline glucoside scillin; an amorphous bitter 
glucoside, scillain; a little volatile oil; sugar, about 22 per cent; 
considerable calcium oxalate in the form of raphides, which is asso- 
ciated in the parenchyma cells with a peculiar mucilage sinistrin, 
which yields levulose on hydrolysis. 

Allied Plants. — The bulbs of several species of Crinum (Fam. 
Amaryllidaceae) found growing in Brazil, China, Southern Asia and 
the East Indies are used as substitutes for squill. 

Literature. — Hartwich, Arch, der Pharm., 1889, p. 583. 

Convallaria. — Lily of the Valley.— The dried rhizome and 
roots of Convallaria majalis (Fam. Liliacese), a low-growing perennial 
herb indigenous to Europe, Asia and the higher mountains of Vir- 
ginia, North Carolina and South Carolina and extensively cultivated 
for its flowers. The rhizome and roots should be collected late in 
summer and carefully dried. The leaves and flowers have also been 
used in medicine. 

Description. — Rhizome horizontal, cylindrical, and sometimes 
branched, jointed, in pieces from 3 to 17 cm. long, internodes 10 
to 50 mm. long, 1 to 3 mm. in diameter, nodes with a circular scar, 
not much thickened; externally light or dark brown, longitudinally 
wrinkled, somewhat annulate from scars of bud-scales, mostly smooth 
between the nodes, upper surface of nodes marked by stem-scars, 
side and under surface with root-scars, or usually with three to five 
roots; fracture short or fibrous; internally light or dark brown, cortex 
0.5 mm. thick, separable from the central cylinder; odor faint; 
taste bitter, slightly acrid. 

Roots somewhat tortuous, 5 to 6 cm. long, about 0.3 to 0.5 mm. 
in diameter, rootlets few. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 37. 

Powder. — Dark brown; calcium oxalate in raphides from 0.020 to 
0.045 mm. long; starch grains somewhat spheroidal, 0.003 to 0.012 
mm. in diameter, single or 2- to 4-compound; tracheae with spiral 
or scalariform thickenings or porous walls; sclerenchymatous fibers 
long, thin-walled, with simple pores; endodermis with inner walls 
much thickened. 



LILY OF THE VALLEY 



97 




Fig. 37. — Portion of a transverse section of convallaria rhizome; E, epidermis; 
H, hypodermis composed of collenchyma; C, cortex; EN, endodermis; 
S, perihadromatic sieve ; T, tracheae or vessels ; P, parenchyma. The bundles 
are of the collateral and concentric types. 



98 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Constituents. — A bitter, somewhat crystalline glucoside, conval- 
lamarin, about 0.6 per cent, which is soluble in water, alcohol and 
ether and has a physiological action similar to digitalin. An acrid 
glucoside, convallarin, forming rectangular prisms which are insoluble 
in ether and sparingly soluble in water, the solution foaming on 
shaking like a saponin solution. 

Convallarin Flores. — Lily of the Valley Flowers. The 
racemes of Convallaria majalis (Fam. Liliaceae). The white or pinkish 
flowers are arranged in racemes upon scapes and are among the most 
fragrant and beautiful of all flowers. For use in medicine they are 
gathered in the spring and early summer from wild plants and care- 
fully dried. On drying they turn brown in color but are easily 
distinguished by their bell-shaped, 6-parted perianths, the segments 
of which are recurved. Inside of this occur 6 stamens, the anthers of 
which are introrse and longer than the filaments. The ovary is 
3-locular and tapers into a 3-grooved, stout style, having at the^sum- 
mit a triangular stigma. The odor is fragrant and the taste sweetish 
and acrid. 

The flowering scape is distinctly 2-winged, smooth and glabrous. 
In transverse section it shows 2 circles of collateral mestome strands, 
those situated at the periphery having a rudimentary cambial strata 
between the leptome and the tracheae, a structure very seldom occur- 
ing in monocotyledonous plants. 

The powdered drug is yellowish-brown and shows numerous 
smooth, ellipsoidal pollen grains and fragments with raphides of 
calcium oxalate varying from 0.010 to 0.040 mm. in length. Frag- 
ments of perianth with elliptical stomata, also broken lobes of the 
anthers are quite common. The tracheae of the scapes possess either 
simple pores or reticulate thickenings, and are associated with a 
few sclerenchymatous fibers having thin, lignified and porous 
walls. 

The flowers contain a volatile crystalline principle which is 
fragrant even in dilute solutions. The other constituents on which 
the activity of the drug depends probably resemble those found in 
the rhizome. 

Literature — Holm, Merck's Report, 1910, p. 160. 

Aletris. — Unicorn Root, True Unicorn Root, Colic Root or 
Ague Root. — The rhizome and roots of Aletris farinosa (Fam. Lili- 
aceae), a perennial herb with spreading lanceolate leaves crowded at 
the base and a long slender scape terminated by a raceme of small, 
white, tubular flowers (for illustration of flowering plant consult 
Kraemer's "Applied and Economic Botany," p. 490. It is common 



SARSAPARILLA 99 

in the pine barrens and grows in sandy and grassy woods through- 
out the eastern United States. 

Description. — Rhizome horizontal or slightly oblique, somewhat 
contorted, laterally compressed above, from 2 to 4 cm. in length, 
5 to 12 mm. in diameter; externally grayish-brown, upper portion 
with a circular stem scar at one end, from 3 to 7 mm. in diameter and 
with numerous leaf bases, the sides and lower portion with numerous 
pale yellow roots which are more or less flexuose and provided with 
short branches; the roots are often stripped of the cortical layer, 
exposing the reddish-brown or purplish endodermal layer of the stele 
and giving them a wiry appearance; the surface of the rhizome cov- 
ered with glandular hairs consisting of a unicellular or bi-cellular 
head and a short stalk; fracture short; internally light brown, cortex 
1 to 2 mm. thick, central cylinder with numerous circular, twisted 
and branching fibrovascular bundles. Odor slight; taste sweetish, 
somewhat bitter. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 38. 

Constituents. — A bitter principle soluble in water or alcohol. 

Adulterant. — The drug is not infrequently mixed with helonias or 
entirely substituted by it. (U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Literature. — Holm, Merck's Report, 1910, p. 33. 

Sarsaparilla. — The dried root of various species of Snr'lax 
(Fam. Liliaceae), perennial climbers indigenous from Mexico to 
Brazil. There are three principal commercial varieties: (1) Hon- 
duras sarsaparilla yielded by Smilax officinalis, growing in Guate- 
mala, Honduras and Nicaragua, and exported from Honduras and 
Belize; (2) Mexican sarsaparilla, yielded by Smilax medica, growing 
in Mexico, and exported from Vera Cruz and Tampico, and (3) 
Jamaica or Central American sarsaparilla, derived from Smilax 
ornata, growing in Colombia (South America), Costa Rica and 
Nicaragua, and shipped to Jamaica, whence it is exported — 
chiefly to London. There is also a native Jamaica sarsaparilla which 
is obtained from plants cultivated in Jamaica. The Honduras and 
Mexican varieties are chiefly used in this country. 

Description. — Honduras Sarsaparilla. — In bundles (Fig. 39) 
about 1 M. in length and from 8 to 15 cm. in diameter, consisting 
of the long, folded roots, and rhizomes, bound together by roots of 
the same plant or stems of some other plant, the ends of the bundles 
rarely being trimmed at the present time; roots about 2 M. long and 
uniformly about 2 to 6 mm. in diameter; externally dark or reddish- 
brown, longitudinally furrowed, minutely hairy and having slender 



100 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

A 




Fig. 38. — Aletris. A, transverse section of rhizome showing epidermis (E); cor- 
tical parenchyma containing either starch grains (S) from 0.002 to 0.010 
mm. in diameter or raphides of calcium oxalate (Ca) from 0.015 to 0.035 mm. 
in length; endodermis (En) more or less distinct in the living plant but usually 
not well-marked in the drug; fibro vascular bundles composed of tracheae (T) 
and sieve (L); sclerenchymatous fibers (Sc). B, transverse action of root 
showing epidermis (E); cortical parenchyma containing starch (S); endo- 
dermis (En) consisting of thick-walled reddish fibers; tracheae (T); scler- 
enchymatous fibers (Sc); sieve (L). C, isolated short, porous sclerenchy- 
matous fibers from the rhizome. — Drawn by Haase. 



SARSAPARILLA 



101 





I 




J> 1 



Smilax medica, the roots yielding Mexican sarsaparilla. To the right a 
portion of branch showing the characteristic veined leaves, the tendril-like 
appendages on the petioles, and the axillary, umbel-like clusters of fruits; A, 
staminate flower; B, pistillate flower in longitudinal section; C, transverse 
section of the tri-locular ovary; D, longitudinal section of ovary E, seed. — 
After Bentley and Trimen. 




Ceroons" made of hide, in which Honduras sarsaparilla is imported. 



102 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



rootlets, the furrows usually free from soil; fracture fibrous; inter- 
nally consisting of a white pith, a light-yellow, porous, central 
cylinder and a grayish-white or dark-brown cortex, the latter being 




Fig. 39. — Bundles of Sarsaparilla, the two on the left being Honduras; the next 
one, Mexican, and the large one, Para, which is, however, not an article of 
commerce at the present time. 

lighter and more starchy near the growing end, and darker (more 
resinous) at the portion near the rhizome; odor slight; taste slightly 
acrid. 



SARSAPARILLA 



103 




Fig. 40. — Transverse section of Honduras sarsaparilla in which the middle por- 
tion of the cortex is omitted; e, epidermis with root hairs; s, hypodermis; 
A, outer portion of cortex; B, inner portion of cortex; k, endodermis; g, 
tracheae; b, sieve cells; m, parenchyma of the pith, the cells resembling those 
of the cortex. The thick-walled cells around the tracheae (g) and leptom- 
(b) are sclerenchymatous fibers. — After Luerssen. 



104 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



The cells of the endodermis and hypodermis are oblong in trans- 
verse section and nearly uniformly thickened (Fig. 41). 

Mexican Sarsaparilla. — In bundles (Fig. 39), with the roots 
usually more or less free; the latter grayish-brown, somewhat 
shrunken, the furrows containing larger or smaller amounts of soil. 
The outer walls of the cells of the hypodermis and the inner walls of 
the cells of the endodermis are considerably thickened (Fig. 41). 







Fig. 41.— 1, transverse section of Honduras sarsaparilla showing the uniformly 
thickened hypodermal cells (e) with cork lamellae (k); E, epidermal cells; 
H, hypodermal cells. 2, similar section of Mexican sarsaparilla; 3, trans- 
verse section of Honduras sarsaparilla showing endodermal cells (e) with 
cork lamellae (k) and lignified walls (H) ; 4, similar section of Mexican sarsa- 
parilla showing endodermal cells (E). — After Meyer. 

Jamaica Sarsaparilla occurs in rather loose bundles. The roots 
are especially* marked by the numerous coarse rootlets. The cells 
of the hypodermis and endodermis somewhat resemble those of 
Mexican sarsaparilla. 

Inner Structure. — See Figs. 40-42. 

By reason of the differences in the shapt, and thickenings of 
the walls of the cells of the endodermis Hartwich (Ber. d. pharm 



SARSAPARILLA 



105 



Ges., 1907, p. 250) distinguishes the following different commercial 
varieties of sarsaparilla. 1. Honduras, in which the cells of the endo- 
dermis are mostly quadratic in shape, seldom tangentially elongated 
and only slightly thickened. 2. Vera Cruz (a Mexican variety), the 
cells being radially elongated and considerably thickened upon the 
inner side. 3. Tampico (a variety of Mexican), in which the endoder- 
mal cells show considerably variation and are frequently not to be 
distinguished from the first two varieties. 3. Guatemala or Man- 
zamillo, in which the cells of the endodermis are tangentially elongated 
and are strongly thickened upon the inside . Nicaragua sarsapa- 
rilla resembles the drug known as Honduras, but is distinguished 
from this by the greater thickness of the endo dermal cells. 




Fig. 42. — Transverse section of Sarsaparilla in the region of the endodermal cells. 
As pointed out by Hartwich,the inner walls are usually furnished with pores 
The radial walls are always suberized and this fact may be determined 
by the use of chromic acid. Sometimes some of the adjoining parenchyma 
cells in the pith are thickened and resemble the endodermis (x). The 
endodermal cells are not always thickened but may have comparatively 
thin walls (P); forming " passage cells" for the exchange of material 
between cortex and pith. The thickening of the cell walls of the endodermis 
consists of a modified cellulose. It is not colored either blue or violet upon 
the addition of chlorzinc-iodide, unless the sections have been first treated 
with chromic acid. Lignification of the walls is most pronounced in young 
roots and is not pronounced in old roots such as we find in the article of 
commerce. The cell walls of the endodermis consist of lamellae of cellulose, 
lignin, suberin, and other substances. — After Hartwich. 



Starch occurs in the parenchyma of the cortex and central pith. 
When heat is used in drying, the starch is altered, giving the root on 
breaking the appearance of being resinous, and hence sarsaparillas 
are sometimes distinguished as " mealy," containing unaltered 
starch (Vera Cruz), and " resinous " when the starch is swollen and 
agglutinated (Honduras). Calcium oxalate occurs in special muci- 
lage cells in the form of raphides and is found in the cells of the cortex 



106 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



as well as pith. The amount varies in different lots of the same 
commercial varieties, sometimes being present only in the cortex 
and occasionally is wanting entirely. Even the quantity of starch 
may vary, sometimes being present in the central parenchyma only 
and sometimes being wanting entirely throughout the root. 

Powder. — (Fig. 43.) Light to dark grayish-brown; consisting 
mostly of starch-bearing parenchyma and separate starch grains, 







P s 



0© ^<®> 




<^s^> 



'St>_ 



Fig. 43. — Powdered Sarsaparilla. Sc, sclerenchymatous fibers; St, stone 
cells which are present in portions of the stems or "butts;" S, starch grains 
from 0.003 to 0.023 mm. in diameter; Ca, raphides of calcium oxalate from 
0.006 to 0.100 mm. in length; P, parenchyma cells containing starch; Ta, 
close annular tracheae; Tc, reticulate tracheae; Td, tracheae with simple and 
bordered pores. — Drawing by Hogstad. 



the latter from 0.003 to 0.023 mm. in diameter, spheroidal, or biconvex 
or spheroidal-tetrahedral, single, or 2- to 4-compound, and frequently 
with a central elliptical cleft; calcium oxalate in raphides, 0.006 mm. 
in length, also attaining a length of 0.150 mm. occurring singly or in 
groups; cells of the hypodermis and endodermis with lemon-yellow 
or reddish-yellow porous walls and in the case of Mexican Sarsaparilla 
showing an uneven or irregular thickening, the individual cells, 0.080 
to 0.500 mm. in length; fragments of tracheae with simple and 



ERYTHRONIUM 107 

bordered pores or scalariform or reticulate thickenings associated 
with sclerenchymatous fibers having rather thin, very slightly lig- 
nified and porous walls. 

Constituents. — Sarsaparilla contains three glucosidal principles, 
which are present to the extent of about 3 per cent — parillin, saponin 
and sarsosaponin, of which the latter is the most active; it also con- 
tains about 15 per cent of starch; raphides of calcium oxalate; vol- 
atile oil, and resin. 

Allied Products. — American Sarsaparilla is the rhizome of wild 
or Virginia sarsaparilla (Aralia nudicaulis, Fam. Araliaceae), a peren- 
nial acaulescent herb, indigenous to Canada and the Northern 
United States as far west as Nebraska. The rhizome is of variable 
length, from 5 to 15 mm. thick; externally brownish-gray and some- 
what annulate; internally light brown, more or less spongy, and with 
an aromatic odor and taste. 

The rhizome and roots of American spikenard (Aralia racemosa), 
growing in the Eastern and Central United States, have constituents 
similar to those of A. nudicaulis, but are more aromatic. The bark 
of Hercules' Club (Aralia spinosa), of the Eastern and Central United 
States, contains the glucoside araliin and possibly also saponin. 

The roots of Cocculus villosus (Fam. Menispermaceae) are used 
in the East Indies like sarsaparilla. 

Literature. — Schleiden, Archiv. d. Pharm., 1847, p. 25; Meyer, 
Ibid., 1881, p. 272; Holfert, Ibid., 1889, p. 507; Hartwich, Ibid., 
1902, p. 325; Hartwich, Ber. Deutsch. Pharm. Ges., 1907, p. 250. 

Erythronium. — Of the 12 species of this genus all but one are 
indigenous to North America. The species represented in the United 
States are commonly known as dog's tooth violet, or adder's tongue. 
The plants have a solid, scaly corm set deeply in the ground, which is 
used to a very limited extent in medicine. The corms contain large 
quantities of starch and it is surprising that they are not utilized com- 
mercially in this country to some extent. In Japan, starch is man- 
ufactured from E. Denscanis and is official in the Japanese Pharma- 
copoeia. The starch grains are mostly single, from 0.020 to 0.025 mm. 
in diameter and which vary from broadly ovoid or pear-shaped, to 
irregularly club-shaped grains, having an excentral point of origin 
of growth and indistinct lamellae. 

Literature. — Holm, Merck's Report, 1907, p. 223. 

Trillium. — Bethroot or Birthroot. — The rhizome and roots 
of Trillium erectum (Fam. Liliacese), a low perennial herb grow- 
ing in rich woods from North Carolina to Quebec and Ontario. 
It produces a rather stout stem, having three leaves, arranged in a 



108 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

whorl at the summit, and subtending the large sessile dark purple 
flowers which have an unpleasant odor and for this reason the plant 
is called " ill-scented Wake-robin." 

Description. — Rhizome upright or horizontal, obconical or some- 
what cylindrical and compressed from above; from 2 to 6 cm. in 
length and 0.75 to nearly 3 cm. in diameter; externally yellowish- 
to reddish-brown, distinctly annulate from scars of bud scales, the 
summit being terminated by a small bud, and the upper surface of 
the oblique rhizomes marked by a few scars of ascending branches, 
in addition the outer surface is marked by numerous circular root 
scars or has attached the long fibrous roots ; fracture short, somewhat 
uneven and mealy; the fractured surface being yellowish-white or 
light brown, mealy, and with a waxy luster; odor distinct; taste 
starchy, bitter and acrid. 

Inner Structure. — Epidermal layer of somewhat tabular cells 
with very thick reddish-brown porous walls; the hypodermal layer 
consisting of tangentially elongated cells, the outer layers of which 
have reddish-brown thick walls; the remainder of the rhizome con- 
sists of large thin-walled starch-bearing parenchyma, interspersed 
among which are the lepto-centric vascular bundles and cells con- 
taining raphides of calcium oxalate; starch grains mostly single, 
nearly spheroidal, having a distinct central cleft and varying in size 
from 0.003 to 0.020 mm. in diameter, occasionally more or less altered 
and swollen starch grains from 0.020 to 0.030 mm. in diameter; 
acicular crystals of calcium oxalate from 0.015 to 0.060 mm. in length; 
tracheae about 0.025 mm. in width and with spiral or reticulate thick- 
enings. 

Constituents. — Saponin (trilline), 4.86 per cent; a resinous sub- 
stance; considerable starch; a small quantity of volatile oil; ash, 
4 to 5 per cent. 

Ornithogalum Thyrsoides. — A bulbous plant (Fam. Liliacese), 
which is common in Cape Colony. Chemical examination of the 
entire flowering plant, including the underground, bulbous portion, 
shows the toxic principle to be chiefly contained in the resin. 
Attempts to obtain a definite active principle have been unsuc- 
cessful. — Power, Pharm. Journ., 1910, p. 32. 

DIOSCOREACE^, OR YAM FAMILY 

These are mostly twining plants with large tuberous roots or 
knotted root stocks. There are about 175 species most of which are 
indigenous to the West Indies and South America. The anatomy of 



YAM ROOT 109 

the stems is interesting in that the fibre-vascular bundles are collat- 
eral and arranged in a manner similar to those found in dicotyledons. 
In the rhizomes the fibrovascular bundles are of a collateral type but 
are separated from each other as is usual in the monocotyledons. 

Dioscorea. — Wild Yam Root, Colic Root or Rheumatism Root. 
The rhizome of Dioscorea villosa (Fam. Dioscoreaceae), a perennial 
herbaceous, twining plant, with beautiful cordate, 9- to 11-ribbed 
leaves, small greenish-yellow flowers and triangular winged capsules. 
The plant is common in the Eastern and Central United States and 
is easily cultivated. The branching rhizomes with adhering roots 
are gathered in the spring and fall, and dried. 

Description. — Rhizome horizontal, woody, somewhat knotted 
and compressed; the pieces usually not more than 5 cm. in length 
and 12 mm. in thickness; externally light or yellowish-brown with 
small circular stem-scars on the upper surface and with conical shaped 
buds and slender wiry roots on the lateral portions; fracture short; 
inodorous; taste somewhat acrid. 

Inner Structure. — Epidermis thin- walled and provided with 
large water pores. The starch-bearing cortical parenchyma is of 
two kinds, that in the periphery being thin walled and is frequently 
abraded in the drug, while the inner layers are thick-walled and 
impart to the drug its hardness. There is no endodermis or pericycle 
and the collateral vascular bundles are scattered throughout the 
central parenchyma. Raphides of calcium oxalate are also present. 

Constituents. — An acrid resin and a principle allied to saponin. 
Continued boiling is said to impair the acrid properties of the drug. 

Literature. — Holm, Merck's Report, 1913, p. 311. 

Yam Root. — Yam is a popular name for several of the edible 
species of Dioscorea and is sometimes incorrectly applied to certain 
varieties of the sweet potato. The tubers of D. alata weigh as much 
as 25 K. In the South Sea Islands they are eaten after boiling, which 
destroys the acrid principle. The starch is also separated and is 
sometimes marketed under the name of " South Sea Island Arrow- 
root." The starch grains are mostly single, ellipsoidal or ovoid, 
frequently bent and characterized by an excentral point of origin 
of growth and numerous lamellae. 

AMARYLLEDACEiE, OR AMARYLLIS FAMILY 

A group of herbaceous plants mostly indigenous to tropical and 
subtropical regions. It includes a number of genera, which are used 
for ornamental purposes, as Amaryllis, Crinum, Galanthus (or snow 



110 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

drop, which flowers very early in the spring), Narcissus and Agave. 
The latter resembles the Aloe plant in its growth and general appear- 
ance, and the best known species, Agave americana, is properly known 
as the American aloe. The plant is frequently seen in cultivation and 
it is commonly supposed that it does not bloom until it is 100 years 
old, and hence is referred to as the Century plant. The notion as 
to its flowering is erroneous, as in hot climates it will flower in a few 
years. The Agave is among the most useful plants of Mexico, and is 
extensively cultivated in tropical countries for its fiber. The latter 
is obtained from the leaves, and is known in commerce as Sisal or 
Manilla hemp. The sap of the leaves contains large quantities of 
sugar, and is used in the manufacture of an intoxicating beverage, 
called pulque. The inner structure of the Amaryllidaceae resembles 
that of the other monocotyledons. Calcium oxalate occurs in the 
form of raphides in special mucilage cells and the stomate are sunk 
below the other epidermal cells. 

Buphane Disticha. — A bulbous plant (Fam. Amaryllidacese) , 
native of South Africa, where it is known as the " poison bulb." 
The plant is stated to have been used as an a arrow-poison," and in 
the treatment of the disease known as " red water." Chemical 
examinations of the bulbs show them to contain a mixture of alkaloids, 
the principal constituent of which is an amorphous, strongly basic 
product, designated buphanine, which possesses a distinct physio- 
logical action. It also contains a weakly basic and a water-soluble 
alkaloid, together with a small amount of narcissine; a volatile oil; 
acety-vanillone; pentatriacontane; a phytosterol; a phytosterol 
glucoside; a mixture of fatty acids; chelidonic acid, and considerable 
amounts of lsevulose and copper. — Power, Journ. Chem. Soc, 1911, 
p. 1240. 

IRIDACE^:, OR IRIS FAMILY 

Plants are mostly perennial herbs with erect, bilateral leaves, and 
interesting, frequently handsome flowers. There are about 800 
species occurring in both temperate and tropical climates. The rhi- 
zomes are creeping as in Calamus and the fibro vascular bundles are 
of the concentric type, being only at the beginning of their entrance 
into the rhizome of the collateral type. Of special interest is the fact 
that the calcium oxalate occurs in the form of long styloids, which 
are surrounded with mucilage, and the walls of the cells in which 
they are enclosed are suberized. 

Ckocus. — True Saffron or Spanish Saffron. — The stigmas of 
Crocus sativus (Fam. Iridacese) to which may be attached portions 



SAFFRON , 111 

of the styles. The plant flowers in the autumn and consists of a more 
or less globular corm, a few linear leaves, and a scape with lilac-purple 
flowers. The plant is cultivated extensively in Spain, and to some 
extent in France, Austria, Germany, Switzerland and Italy. It has 
also been successfully grown in Lebanon County, Pa. The flowers 
are collected in autumn, the stigmas and upper portions of the styles 
separated and dried. As the plant only produces one or two flowers, 
the styles and stigmas only being used, a good quality of drug is 
expensive. The labor involved is necessarily tedious and the loss 
on drying is about 80 per cent. The figures vary considerably but it 
is estimated that 100,000 flowers are gathered in order to obtain but 
500 gm. of drug. There are two principal commercial varieties, viz. : 
Valencia, consisting almost entirely of stigmas, and the Alicante being 
usually contaminated with larger percentage of fragments of styles, 
stamens and corolla. Saffron should not be exposed to the light, 
and should be kept in tin containers or amber-colored bottles. 

Description. — Stigmas separate or three attached to the top of 
the style; stigmas about 25 mm. long, cornucopia-shaped with a 
dentate or fimbriate margin, and of a dark rich red color; styles 
about 10 mm. long, more or less cylindrical, solid, yellowish; odor 
strong, peculiar, aromatic; taste bitterish, aromatic. 

On placing the stigmas in sulphuric acid they are immediately 
colored blue, gradually changing to violet, and finally become a 
deep wine-red color. 

If 0.010 gm. of finely comminuted saffron is added to 100 c.c. 
of cold water and allowed to macerate for several hours and filtered, 
then 10 c.c. of this filtrate when added to 100 c.c. of water should give 
a distinct yellow colored solution. 

On macerating 0.010 gm. of saffron in 5 c.c. of methyl alcohol a 
strong orange color is imparted to the liquid. On the addition of 
0.010 gm. of saffron to 5 c.c. of acetone, alcohol, or absolute alcohol a 
distinct lemon yellow color is produced. With ether a very light 
lemon yellow color is produced. With chloroform a very slight 
yellow tinge is imparted and with xylol, benzol, carbon disulphide, 
carbon tetrachloride, and petroleum benzin the solvents remain 
colorless. 

Inner Structure. — A microscopic view of the upper end of the 
stigma shows the presence of numerous papillae which are cylindrical 
and about 0.150 mm. long, in among which occur a few pollen grains 
which are spheroidal, nearly smooth, and about 0.040 to 0.075 mm. 
in diameter; occasionally some of the pollen grains have germinated 
and show pollen tubes of various lengths. 



112 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Powder. — (Fig. 44.) — Orange red; glycerin mounts of deep orange 
color; few, nearly smooth, nearly spheroidal pollen grains, 0.085 to 
0.100 mm. in diameter; papillae of stigma; coloring principle soluble 
in water but not in fixed oils, being the reverse in capsicum; with 
sulphuric acid fragments become blue immediately. 






Fig. 44. — A, Crocus (Spanish saffron), showing two spheroidal pollen grains, a 
fragment of stigma with papillae, and fragment of an anther; B, Calendula, 
showing three spinose pollen grains and fragments of corolla, the cells of 
which contain oil-like globules; C, Carthamus (so-called American saffron), 
showing two slightly spinose pollen grains and a fragment of the corolla with 
brown laticiferous vessels and numerous unicellular hairs. — After Weakley. 

Constituents. — A yellow glucoside, crocin, which is very powerful, 
1 part imparting a distinct yellow color to 100,000 parts of water. 
It is a yellow amorphous substance which is readily soluble in water 
and dilute alcohol, but only slightly soluble in absolute alcohol or 
ether. It is colored blue with either sulphuric or nitric acid. It 



IRIS 113 

also contains another glucoside, picrorocin, which is soluble in ether, 
forms prismatic crystals and yields on hydrolysis a volatile oil. 
The latter may be obtained on distillation to the extent of 1 per cent 
and possesses when freshly distilled a yellowish color and the odor of 
saffron. It also contains a hydrocarbon of the methane series, a 
wax, a fixed oil and dextrose. The ash, which is rich in phosphoric 
acid, varies from 4.5 to 7.5 per cent. The commercial article should 
not contain more than 14 per cent of moisture. 

Standard of Purity. — Saffron is the dried stigma of Crocus sativus 
L. It contains not more than 10 per cent of yellow styles and other 
foreign matter, not more than 14 per cent of volatile matter when 
dried at 100° C, not more than 6 per cent of total ash, nor more than 
1 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. (U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Adulterants. — A large number of vegetable, mineral and animal 
substances and also dye stuffs have been employed to adulterate 
saffron. It is frequently confused with and substituted by safflower 
(Carthamus tinctorius) a plant of the Composite, the tubular flowers 
of which are sold under the name of " American saffron." The latter 
are readily distinguished by their corollas possessing very long slender 
yellow tubes and five bright red lobes. The pollen grains are very 
numerous, somewhat triangular in shape, the surface being very 
prickly (Fig. 44). 

The ligulate flowers of Calendula are sometimes colored with 
one of the red dyes as hematoxylin, safranin or fuchsin and employed 
to adulterate saffron. These are distinguished by their rather broad 
ligulate corollas having 4 prominent veins and 4 teeth at the summit. 
The epidermal cells contain characteristic yellowish oily drops 
(Fig. 44). 

Literature. — Kraemer, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1898, p. 386; Zornig, 
Arzneidrogen; Valdiguie, Bot. Abstracts, 1918, 1, p. 179. 

Ikis. — Larger Blue Flag, Water or Poison Flag. — The dried 
rhizome and roots of Iris versicolor (Fam. Iridacese), one of the 
most common Monocotyledons in the United States. The plant 
is a perennial herb, with long sword-shaped or grassy leaves and 
possesses large violet-blue flowers. It grows in wet places and pro- 
duces a thick fleshy rhizome. The latter is collected, freed from the 
scaly decayed leaves and dried. 

Description. — Rhizome cylindrical, more or less flattened, occa- 
sionally branched; outer surface annulate with numerous stem scars 
on the upper surface and numerous root scars on the lateral and 
under portions. Usually cut lengthwise into pieces 2.5 to 10 cm. in 
length and 5 to 20 mm. in diameter; externally grayish-brown to 



114 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



blackish-brown and occasionally with the fibrous bases of decayed 
leaves and short fragments of the stout roots; fracture, short, resin- 
ous; internally reddish-brown, with a distinct yellowish endodermis 
within which are the whitish, scattered vascular bundles; odor 
slightly aromatic; taste sweetish, bitter and slightly acrid. 
Inner Structure. — See Fig. 45. 




Fig. 45. — Rhizomes of Iris versicolor. A, diagram of transverse section showing 
vascular bundles (a and c); endodermis (6). B, portion of rhizome showing 
parenchyma (p) and intercellular spaces (a), endodermis (6); closed ring of 
sclerenchymatous fibers shown in longitudinal view (sc) ; concentric vascular 
bundle of the leptocentric type. C, transverse section of root showing 
epidermis (a); cortical parenchyma (6); central stele with endodermis (d); 
pericambial layer (e); leptome (I) and tracheae (c and/), those at the peri- 
phery being smaller. D, crystals of calcium oxalate. E, cells of parenchyma 
with amylo-dextrin starch grains, i.e., becoming reddish with solution of 
iodin. — After Bastin. 

Powder. — Reddish-brown; numerous fragments of parenchyma 
associated with resin cells, the latter being colored from a yellowish- 



IRIS 115 

to an orange-brown; calcium oxalate in long solitary prisms with 
pyramidal ends, as in quillaja, and varying from 0.100 to 0.350 mm. 
in length; parenchyma cells containing small amylo-dextrin grains, 
colored reddish with iodin and occasionally with typical starch grains 
giving a blue reaction with iodin. Tracheae with spiral or reticulate 
thickenings. 

Constituents. — About 25 per cent of acrid resins and a small quan- 
tity of volatile oil. An alkaloid has also been reported to occur in 
Iris. The so-called " irisin " or " iriclin " is a mixture of the resins 
and the powdered drug. 

Adulterants. — The drug on the market varies considerably owing 
to some extent to the lack of uniformity in its collection. The con- 




Fig. 46. — Specimens of "orris root" of commerce consisting of the dichotomous 
rhizomes of Iris florentina. 

stituents are apparently very labile, the resins becoming changed to 
insoluble and inert substances. 

Literature. — Bastin, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1895, p. 78. 

Iris Florentina. — Iridis Rhizoma, Florentine Orris, or 
Orris Root. — The prepared rhizome of Iris florentina and other 
species of Iris (Fam. Iridaceae), cultivated in Italy. The rhizomes 
are gathered in the fall, freed from the roQts and outer cortical layer 
and slowly dried. The fragrant odor is developed during the drying 
process. There are two principal varieties, Florentine and Verona, 
the former is more fragrant, lighter in color and is preferred. 

Description. — In irregularly cylindrical, somewhat flattened, 
more or less branched pieces (Fig. 46), from 5 to 10 cm. in length and 



116 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



about 2.5 to 4 cm. in thickness; externally oyster-white or yellowish- 
white, and marked by numerous circular root-scars; hard and heavy; 
fracture irregular, the broken surface exhibiting a distinct endodermis 
and numerous circular vascular bundles. It has a violet-scented odor 
and a slightly aromatic, somewhat bitter and acrid taste. 

Inner Structure. — Consisting mostly of starch-bearing paren- 
chyma, in the intercellular spaces between which occur large prisms 
of calcium oxalate, varying from 0.100 to 0.500 mm. in length and 
from 0.015 to 0.025 mm. in diameter. The walls of the endodermal 
cells are of a collenchymatous nature and contain starch. The 
fibrovascular bundles are of the leptocentric type and the tracheae 
show mostly annular or spiral thickenings, although scalariform or 
reticulate forms may occur. 




Fig. 47. — Orris root: pr, parenchyma containing starch grains; a, starch grains 
with characteristic cleft; pr', parenchyma with narrow oblique pores; sp, 
fragments of tracheae; K, prisms of calcium oxalate. — After Vogl. 



Powder. — (Fig. 47.) Starch grains, 0.005 to 0.030 mm. in diam- 
eter with a characteristic cleft like a pair of open shears. Calcium 
oxalate in solitary prismatic crystals with pyramidal ends and attain- 
ing a length of 0.500 mm. Tracheae with markings as indicated 
above. There are neither cork cells nor sclerenchymatous fibers 
present. 

Constituents. — From 0.1 to 0.2 per cent of a yellowish-white 
volatile oil which is almost solid at ordinary temperatures, whereby 
it is known commercially as orris butter. It consists chiefly of myris- 
tic acid and owes its odor to the ketone, irone. It also contains a 
small amount of a crystalline glucoside, iridin, which is soluble in 
hot alcohol, sparingly soluble in water and insoluble in ether, chloro- 



GINGER 117 

form and benzol. There is also present in addition an acrid resin and 
a tannin, the latter being colored greenish with ferric salts. 

ZINGEBERACEiE, OR GINGER FAMILY 

Perennial herbs characterized by long or tuberous rhizomes and 
strongly thickened roots. They are indigenous to the tropics of the 
eastern hemisphere, especially the countries bordering the Indian 
Ocean and Malay Islands, only two of the genera being found in 
tropical America. The leaves are lanceolate and ligulate at the 
basal portion of the petiole. The fibrovascular bundles are con- 
centric and arranged in one or more rows within the central cylinder. 
The walls of the cells of the endodermis are thin and mostly suberized. 
The plants usually contain a volatile oil which is colored by a yellow 
coloring principle curcumin, this being found in special secretion 
cells which somewhat resemble the surrounding parenchyma. The 
starch grains are quite characteristic, having a distinct acute termina- 
tion or beak near the point of origin of growth. 

Zingiber. — Ginger. — The rhizome of Zingiber officinale (Fam. 
Zingiberacese) , a perennial herb (Fig/ 48) indigenous to Asia, and 
cultivated in tropical countries, notably in the West Indies, India and 
Africa. The rhizomes are collected between December and March; 
they are cleaned by washing, peeled, again washed in water, some- 
times containing juice of the lime fruit, and dried in the sun. There 
are several kinds of the drug, depending upon the manner of treat- 
ment. That from Africa has the periderm removed from the vertical 
sides only, and is known as " coated " ginger; in the Jamaica variety 
the periderm is completely removed and the product is known as. 
" peeled " or " uncoated " or " scraped " ginger. The latter is 
sometimes steeped in milk of lime to protect it against the attacks 
by insects. The Jamaica variety has a very delicate aroma. 

Jamaica Ginger. — Horizontal, laterally compressed, irregularly 
branched pieces (Fig. 49), 4 to 10 cm. long, 4 to 20 mm. broad, 5 to 
10 mm. thick; externally light brown, longitudinally wrinkled, 
having somewhat elliptical, depressed stem-scars, with few fibers of 
fibrovascular tissue or adhering fragments of periderm; fracture 
mealy and with short projecting fibrovascular bundles: internally, 
cortex fight brown, 0.1 to 0.4 mm. thick; central cylinder with 
numerous circular groups of fibrovascular tissue and yellowish 
secretion cells; odor strongly aromatic; taste pungent. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 50. In fresh ginger and in the con- 
fection " crystallized ginger " the contents of the secretion cells are 



118 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

oily and of a yellow color, but in old dried rhizomes the contents are 
darker and insoluble in alcohol, ether, glacial acetic acid, with solutions 
of potassium hydrate or hydrated chloral. 



Fig. 48. — Zingiber officinale, the rhizome of which constitutes the ginger of the 
market. Entire plant showing rhizome and roots, a leaf-branch and a flower- 
branch as also scars of previous year's growth after decay of leaf- and flower- 
branches. A, entire flower, B, section of flower showing beak-like append- 
ages at the summit of the fertile stamen, which encloses the style; C, three- 
parted labellum or irregular segment of corolla showing two tooth-like 
staminodes (rudiments of stamens) at the base; D, the ovary with lower 
portion of style and two epigynous filiform processes which secrete nectar; 
E, summit of funnel-shaped, fringed stigma. — After Berg and Schmidt. 

Powder. — (Fig. 51.) Light yellow; numerous starch grains 
ellipsoidal or somewhat ovoid, slightly beaked, 0.015 to 0.060 mm. in 



GINGER 



119 



diameter; secretion cells with suberized walls and yellowish oily 
contents; trachea? large, thin-walled, annular or reticulate; scleren- 




Fig. 49. — Rhizome of African ginger showing scars of overground branch (Ls) 
and buds (ife). The more or less parallel lines represent leaf -scars and scars 
of bud-scales, and the small circles, root-scars. — After Meyer. 



SF 
T- 



p. 



O — 




Fig. 50. — Transverse section of portion of rhizome of ginger; P, parenchyma 
containing ovoid starch grains; 0, oil cells; R, cells containing resin; SF, 
sclerenchymatous fibers; T, tracheae; S, sieve. 



chymatous fibers long, thin-walled, non-lignified and with oblique 
pores. 



120 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 51. — Powdered ginger containing foreign tissues. The following are the 
typical elements of ginger: F, sclerenchymatous fibers which vary from 0.3 to 
1.3 mm. long and from 0.020 to 0.030 mm. in diameter, the walls being some- 
what undulate, about 0.003 mm. thick, slightly yellowish, non-lignified and 
having slender, oblique, simple pores; T, reticulate tracheae varying from 
0.030 to 0.060 mm. in diameter, the walls consisting mostly of cellulose, and 
with phloroglucin giving but a faint reaction for lignin; SC, secretion cells, the 
walls of which are suberized and the contents of which in the fresh rhizome 
are oily and of a light yellow color, changing to golden yellow with sulphuric 
acid, whereas in the older commercial specimens the contents are yellowish, 
or reddish-brown, balsam-like or resinous, becoming of a deep brownish- 
black on treatment with sulphuric acid; K, cork cells which on an average 
are about 0.060 in length and 0.025 mm. in width; S, starch grains which vary 
from 0.020 to 0.060 mm. in length, the largest being found in Jamaica ginger, 
have indistinct lamellae, and so do not polarize well unless mounted in a fixed 
oil, as almond or olive; W, swollen starch grains; L, small, swollen, altered 



GINGER 121 

Constituents. — Volatile oil, possessing the aromatic odor of the 
drug, 1 to 3 per cent, and consisting chiefly of a sesquiterpene, some 
dextro-camphene and phellandrene; a colorless, viscid principle 
gingerol, which has the pungent taste of the drug, 0.5 to 1.5 per cent; 
two resins, one of which is acid in character; starch, 20 per cent. 

Commercial Varieties. — The following are derived from Zingiber 
officinale: (1) Natural Jamaica ginger occurs in long, slender, flattish, 
branching, light yellowish-brown pieces, the periderm being com- 
pletely removed. (2) Bleached Jamaica ginger is the natural Jamaica 
rhizome frequently coated with lime. (3) African ginger consists of 
grayish-brown pieces which are partly peeled on the flattened sides, 
in section exhibit garnet resin dots, and the taste is intensely acrid. 
(4) Calcutta ginger resembles African ginger, but has a greater pro- 
portion of cork, and yields a higher percentage of ash than the other 
commercial gingers. (5) Calicut ginger also resembles African ginger. 
(6) Cochin ginger is a scraped ginger, internally is of a light cream 
color and exhibits numerous black resin dots. (7) Japan ginger is 
probably derived from Z. Zerumbet. It belongs to the class of 
scraped and limed gingers, and has a short and mealy fracture. 
The resin dots are reddish, and it differs from all the other gingers 
in having numerous compound starch grains varying from 0.004 to 
0.025 mm. in diameter. 

The powder of African ginger is dark yellow or dark brown, more 
aromatic and pungent, and has numerous fragments of cork. 

In Japan ginger there are numerous compound grains varying 
from 0.004 to 0.025 mm. in diameter, while in Calcutta ginger there 
are numerous spheroidal grains 0.015 to 0.025 mm. resembling those 
of wheat. 

Standard of Purity. — Ginger is the washed and dried, or decor- 
ticated and dried, rhizome of Zingiber officinale Roscoe. It con- 
tains not less than 42 per cent of starch, not more than 8 per cent 
of crude fiber, not more than 1 per cent of lime (CaO), not less than 
12 per cent of cold water extract, nor more than 7 per cent of total 
ash, not more than 2 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid, 
nor less than 2 per cent of ash soluble in cold water. 

starch grains; P, parenchyma cells; H, F, hyphse and spores of a fungus 
which are usually present in African ginger and easily detected in mounts 
prepared with sulphuric acid. 

In Calcutta ginger occur a large number of spheroidal starch grains resembling 
those of wheat, and in Japan ginger there are numerous compound grains. 
Adulterated ginger may contain fragments of tissues of Capsicum (F), stone 
cells of endocarp of olive (N), or tissues of soap bark. 



122 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Jamaica ginger is ginger grown in Jamaica. It contains not less 
than 15 per cent of cold water extract, and conforms in other respects 
to the standards for ginger. 

Limed ginger, bleached ginger, is whole ginger coated with car- 
bonate of calcium. It contains not more than 4 per cent of car- 
bonate of calcium, nor more than 10 per cent of total ash, and con- 
forms in other respects to the standards for ginger. (U. S. Dept. 
Agric.) 

Adulterants. — Exhausted ginger is sometimes used to adulterate 
powdered ginger. If the exhaustion has been by means of water the 
starch grains are somewhat altered. If the extraction has been made 
with alcohol the light yellowish oleo-resin cells are not so abundant. 
Ginger, particularly the decorticated varieties, loses, on keeping, part 
of the pale yellowish oil, being replaced by a reddish, almost insoluble 
resin. Ginger is also sometimes adulterated with wheat middlings 
and flaxseed meal. Curcuma is sometimes added to an exhausted 
or adulterated ginger to bring up the color to that of the normal drug. 

Ginger which is bleached by means of sulphur fumes or bleaching 
powder (chlorinated lime) or that is coated with lime should not be 
used. 

Literature. — Kraemer, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1908, p. 303; Kilmer, 
Ibid., 1898, p. 75; Snyder, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1918, 90, p. 253. 

Curcuma. — Rhizoma Curcumae, Turmeric or Yellow Root. — 
The prepared rhizome of Curcuma longa (Fam. Zingiberacese) . 
The plant is cultivated in all tropical countries by methods similar to 
those used in the cultivation of ginger. The rhizomes are collected 
at the end of the growing season, cleaned, boiled for some hours and 
then carefully, but rapidly, dried in the open air. Two commercial 
forms are recognized and both may be obtained from the same plant: 
the one known as " round curcuma," being obtained from the swollen 
internodes which arise from the hypogeous leaf-buds; the other, 
furnishing the " long curcuma," being obtained from the less fleshy 
underground branches. 

Description. — Cylindrical or fusiform (Curcuma longa or long 
curcuma) or ovoid and somewhat flattened (curcuma rotunda or 
round curcuma); from 2 to 5 cm. in length and from 1 to 2 cm. in 
thickness; outer surface light or dark yellowish- brown, smooth and 
irregular, marked by root-scars and occasionally by somewhat spira^ 
leaf -scars; heavy and of an almost horny fracture; inner surface 
orange-yellow with a waxy luster, distinct endodermis and numerous 
vascular bundles seen either in transverse or longitudinal view; odor 
aromatic; taste pungent and somewhat bitter. 



TURMERIC 



123 



Inner Structure. — Epidermal layer of thin-walled cells; occa- 
sionally a hypodermal layer of suberized parenchymatous cells; 
parenchyma of cortex and pith filled with starch paste in which are 
sometimes seen the long lens-shaped unaltered starch grains; dis- 
tributed among the parenchyma are the oil cells having suberized 
walls and in the lumina either orange-yellow globules of a volatile 
oil or amorphous resinous masses; the endodermis consists of thin- 
walled partly suberized cells; the vascular bundles are of the col- 
lateral type and sclerenchymatous fibers are only occasionally present. 

Powder. — Bright yellow. See Fig. 52. 




Fig. 52. — Curcuma (Turmeric) : P, fragments of parenchyma containing swollen 
and altered starch grains which form an indistinguishable mass within the 
cells and constitute the greater proportion of the powder; T, tracheae; S, 
unaltered starch grains. 



Constituents. — From 1 to 5 per cent of an orange-yellow, some- 
what fluorescent volatile oil; about 0.3 per cent of curcumin, which 
crystallizes in orange-red, short rods or prisms having a beautiful 
blue refraction, and is freely soluble in alcohol, ether, fixed and vola- 
tile oils; from 30 to 40 per cent of starch; 4 to 7 per cent of ash; and 
a small quantity of a fixed oil. 

East Indian Arrowroot. — Also known as Bombay, Malabar, or 
Tellicherry-Arrowroot is the starch obtained from Curcuma angusti- 
folia and other species of Curcuma. The starch is manufactured in 



124 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

the countries of southwestern India. The grains vary in shape from 
narrow ellipsoidal to broadly ovoid, are somewhat flattened, more or 
less acute or beaked at one end and possess numerous distinct lam- 
ellae. They vary in size from 0.010 to 0.075 mm. in length. Accord- 
ing to Fliickiger the grains begin to swell at 72° C. when heated with 
water. 

Zedoaria. — Rhizoma Zedoariae, Radix Zedoariae or Zedoary. — 
The rhizome or tuber of Curcuma Zedoariae (Fam. Zingiberacese) , a 
plant cultivated in southeastern Asia, Madagascar and other tropical 
countries. The rhizome is collected in Ceylon and Madras, cut 
transversely into pieces, dried and shipped to Bombay, most of the 
exported article being sent into market via Trieste. 

Description. — In nearly circular disks, from 1 to 4 cm. in diameter 
and 4 to 10 mm. in thickness; outer corky ayerlight yellowish-brown, 
roughly wrinkled and marked by circular root-scars or short root 
bases; cut surface, white, or grayish-white, nearly smooth, with a 
distinct dark endodermis, numerous orange-colored resin cells and 
light-colored circular vascular bundles; fracture short, mealy; odor 
aromatic, camphoraceous; taste pungent and somewhat bitter. The 
drug and powder are distinguished by the presence of non-glandular 
hairs, resembling those of matico, attaining a length of 1 mm., con- 
sisting of 1 to 6 cells and possessing very thick walls. The starch 
grains vary from 0.010 to 0.075 mm. in length and very closely 
resemble those of Zingiber. The oil-secretion cells are suberized and 
have a colorless and not a yellow content, distinguishing them from 
those in Zingiber. 

Constituents. — From 1 to 1.8 per cent of a cineol-containing vola- 
tile oil; a soft resin; 50 per cent of starch; ash, 4.5 to 7 per cent; 
and small quantities of sugar, fixed oil and mucilage. 

In a proprietary preparation said to contain " Latalia radix " 
it was found that powdered Zeodary had been employed. — Kraemer, 
Jour. Amer. Med. Assoc, 1908 (Vol. L.) p. 977. 

Galanga. — Galangal, Rhizoma Galang^e, Galgant, Gal- 
anga Minor or Lesser Galangal. — The rhizome of Alpinia offi- 
cinarum (Fam. Zingiberacese), a plant indigenous to and cultivated 
since ancient times in the countries of Eastern and Southeastern 
Asia. The sympodially branching rhizome may attain a length of 
1 M. and is collected from plants that are from 4 to 10 years old. It 
is cut into small pieces and dried. The commercial supplies are 
obtained from Hainan and shipped from Shanghai and Hang-Chow, 
China. 



CARDAMOM 125 

Description. — Rhizome nearly cylindrical, distinctly branched, 
from 2 to 10 cm. in length and from 7 to 20 mm. in diameter; exter- 
nally reddish-brown, annulate from circular scars of bud scales, 
otherwise nearly smooth and but slightly wrinkled; fracture very 
tough; cut surface grayish-brown, porous with a very thick cortex, 
and with numerous brownish-red secretion cells and yellowish vas- 
cular bundles; odor aromatic; taste aromatic and pungent. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 53.) An epidermal layer of several rows 
of small brownish cells; cortex with starch-bearing parenchyma, 
numerous brownish secretion cells and collateral vascular bundles, 
each surrounded by a ring of thick-walled sclerenchymatous fibers; 
endodermis with thin-walled cells and free from starch; the pith is 
composed of cells similar to those in the cortex; the trachea? have 
either porous walls or scalarif orm or reticulate thickenings ; distrib- 
uted throughout the parenchyma also occur non-suberized secretion 
cells which contain a dark brown amorphous substance which is said 
to resemble tannin or an altered product. 

Powder. — Reddish-brown; starch grains numerous, ellipsoidal, 
ovoid, more or less spatulate (Fig. 53), from 0.010 to 0.045 mm. in 
length, having a circular point of origin at the broad end and indis- 
tinct lamella? ; numerous yellowish-red secretion cells being frequently 
separated from the starch-bearing parenchyma; parenchyma with 
porous walls and occasionally without starch; the walls of the 
trachea? with adjoining sclerenchymatous fibers are non-lignified ; 
cork cells wanting. 

Constituents. — From 0.5 to 1.0 per cent of a cineol-containing 
volatile oil; a soft acrid resin containing a pungent principle, galan- 
gol; three yellowish crystalline principles, alpinin, galangin, and 
csempferid, each occurring to the extent of about 0.1 per cent; starch 
from 20 to 25 per cent; and ash, containing manganese, 4 per cent. 

Cardamomum. — Cardamom. — The fruit of Elettaria Carda- 
momum (Syn. E. repens) (Fam. Zingiberacea?) , a perennial herb 
indigenous to Indo-China and cultivated near the Malabar Coast and 
in Ceylon. The commercial article is obtained from wild plants 
growing in the southern part of the western coast of Indo-China. 
The fruit is gathered in autumn — either the entire spike, when some 
of the fruits have matured, or the full-grown fruits are cut from the 
rachis in succession as they ripen; they are bleached by exposure to 
the sun, sometimes sulphurous acid or steam being also used, after 
which they are dried and freed from extraneous matter. Seeds 
which have been discharged from the capsules are inferior to those 



126 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



which have been retained. A greater portion goes to Bombay, from 
where it is estimated that 100,000 kilograms are exported yearly to 




Fig. 53. — Galangal. A, section of a collateral fibrovascular bundle showing 
leptome (L); tracheae (T); sclerenchymatous fibers (Sc); oil-secretion cells 
(Z); parenchyma (P). B, longitudinal section of portion of fibrovascular 
bundle showing portions of reticulate tracheae (T); sclerenchymatous fibers 
(Sc); porous parenchyma (P); starch grains (S). C, cortical tissue of rhi- 
zome seen in surface view showing epidermal layer (E) with a stoma (S); 
cortical parenchyma (P); secretion cells (Z). D, starch grain seen in two 
views; a, when viewed from above, and 6, as seen in section through the 
broad end. E, transverse section of outer layers showing epidermis (e) 
and underlying parenchyma (a). F, surface view of epidermal cells. — C, 
after Moeller, the remainder after Meyer. 

London. The commercial varieties are known as Malabar and 
Mysore Cardamom. 



CARDAMOM 



127 



Malabar Cardamom. — Capsule loculicidally dehiscent, broadly 
ellipsoidal, occasionally ovoid, more or less triangular in transverse 
section, 10 to 17 mm. long, 6 to 8 mm. in diameter, pericarp about 
0.5 mm. thick; externally light brown or faintly pink, summit slightly 
beaked, and with remnants of style, base rounded, with scar of stalk, 
longitudinally striate, 3-grooved, 3-valved, 3-locular, ■ dissepiments 
thin; seeds 15 to 18 in number, anatropous, irregularly angular, 
enclosed in a thin membranous aril, about 3 mm. long, externally 
dark reddish-brown, deeply wrinkled, embryo small, straight, endo- 
sperm and perisperm distinct; odor aromatic; taste aromatic, pun- 
gent. 





Fig. 54. — Cardamom: A, transverse section showing the arillus (h), the several 
layers of the seedcoat (T, I, V), perisperm (1), endosperm (2) and embryo 
(3) at the center. B, transverse section of the seedcoat and perisperm of 
Malabar cardamom showing epidermal cells (o), cells having a brown con- 
tent (qu), cells containing ethereal oil (p), brown stone cells (St) with very 
thick inner walls, and perisperm (e), the cells of which contain numerous 
small starch grains and usually a pair of small crystals which may be seen on 
treating sections with solutions of hydrated chloral. — A, after Meyer; B, 
after Moeller. 



Mysore Cardamom. — Ovoid, somewhat oblong, white or very 
light brown, 12 to 20 mm. long, 7 to 9 mm. in diameter, nearly 
smooth or faintly longitudinally striate; seeds 9 to 12, and less 
pungent than those of Malabar Cardamom. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 54. 

Powder. — Greenish-brown; stone cells dark brown, slightly 
elongated, 0.015 to 0.025 mm. in diameter, the inner wall thickened; 



128 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

outer epidermal cells 0.020 to 0.030 mm. in diameter, elongated on 
surface view, inner and outer walls thickened; oil-secretion cells 
with suberized walls; starch grains spheroidal or angular, single or 
compound, 0.001 to 0.004 mm. in diameter; monoclinic prisms of 
calcium oxalate few, 0.010 to 0.025 mm. in diameter. The powder of 
the pericarp and seeds is pinkish and contains, in addition, scleren- 
chymatous fibers which are non-lignified, relatively thin-walled and 
with simple, slightly oblique pores; parenchyma frequently with 
calcium oxalate crystals. The powder of Ceylon cardamom con- 
tains the unicellular hairs of the capsule; and the cells, as also the 
starch grains and calcium oxalate crystals, are larger. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil 4 to 5 per cent, with a penetrating but 
agreeable odor and a camphoraceous, burning taste; fixed oil 10 per 
cent; starch about 3 per cent; calcium oxalate; ash 4 to 10 per cent. 
The pericarp contains about 0.2 per cent of a volatile oil. 

Standard of Purity. — Cardamom is the dried, nearly ripe fruit 
of Etettaria Cardamomum White & Maton. 

Cardamom seed is the dried seed of cardamom. It contains 
not more than 8 per cent of total ash, nor more than 3 per cent of 
ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. (U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Allied Plants. — Ceylon Cardamom is obtained from wild plants 
of Elettaria major. The capsules are 2 to 4 cm. long and about 10 
mm. in diameter, distinctly triangular in transverse section, deeply 
longitudinally striate and slightly pubescent. In each loculus there 
are about 20 seeds, which are about 4 mm. long, bitter and less 
aromatic than the official cardamom. 

The so-called bastard cardamoms are yielded by one or more spe- 
cies of Amonum, but these rarely find their way to market. 

MARANTACEiE OR ARROWROOT FAMILY 

Plants of this family are mostly perennial herbs having thick 
fleshy rhizomes or tubers. They are found mostly in the tropics 
and are represented by about 150 species. The leaves are long 
petioled and characterized by a swollen, long, sac-like sheath at the 
base. Sections of the leaf show a hypodermis with unusually large 
cells. The petiole of the stem contains large lysigenous lacunae and 
in the diaphrams is developed a star-shaped parenchyma. Calcium 
oxalate occurs in the form of rod-like crystals. 

Amylum Makant^e. — Arrowroot Starch. — The starch grains 
obtained from the rhizomes of Maranta arundinacea (Fam. Maran- 
tacese). The plant is indigenous to the West Indies and northern 



ARROWROOT 129 

part of South America and is now extensively cultivated in nearly- 
all tropical countries. One-year old rhizomes are collected, carefully 
washed, then beaten into a pulp, mixed with water and the starch 
removed by filtering through copper sieves; this is then carefully 
dried and shipped to market in kegs. The commercial supplies come 
chiefly from St. Vincent and Bermuda. The rhizome yields about 
20 per cent of dried starch. 

Bermuda Arrowroot occurs in the form of somewhat hard, irreg- 
ular granules or masses, varying from 1 to 6 mm. in diameter. When 
rubbed between the fingers it is reduced to a smooth powder, which is 
velvety to the touch. The starch grains (Fig. 20) vary in shape 
from ellipsoidal to ovoid or oblong and from 0.010 to 0.065 mm. in 
diameter. The lamellae are mostly indistinct and there is usually a 
transverse or crescent-shaped cleft at the middle or near the broad 
end of the grain. 

St. Vincent arrowroot is slightly darker in color and is in the form 
of masses or granules, which are sometimes 20 mm. in diameter. 
The starch grains resemble those of the Bermuda arrowroot, but the 
grains having clefts are more numerous. 

The arrowroot starches all show a distinct cross with the micro- 
polariscope and a marked play of colors when a selenite plate is used. 

Maranta starch contains about 10 per cent of water, and less than 
1 per cent of ash, the remaining portion consisting chiefly of starch 
grains except for certain impurities. Owing to the fact that it enters 
largely into infant and convalescent foods it should be as free as pos- 
sible from these impurities. Upon boiling 1 part of starch with 10 
parts of diluted hydrochloric acid, for ten minutes with occasional 
shaking of the mixture and filtering, the starch grains should not 
become agglutinated nor the filtrate mucilaginous or emit an unpleas- 
ant odor. When examined on the thermo-stage of the microscope 
the granules begin to swell at 70° C. One part of starch heated to 
100° C. with 20 parts of distilled water gives a transparent, mucilag- 
inous mixture which is practically free from odor. 

Maranta starch sometimes becomes moldy and should not be 
used, although Procter stated that he was able to restore musty 
arrowroot to its original condition by washing it thoroughly in water 
and then drying. 

So-called American Arrowroot consists of one of the other com- 
mercial starches, as potato or corn and may be readily detected by 
means of the microscope (Fig. 20). 

The name Arrowroot is applied to the starches obtained from a 
number of different plants. Tahiti Arrowroot is obtained from Tacca 



130 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

pinnatifida; East Indian Arrowroot is prepared from several species 
of Curcuma; South Sea Island Arrowroot is obtained from several 
species of Arum and Dioscorea; Brazilian Arrowroot is identical with 
Cassava or Tapioca starch. 

ORCHIDACEjE, or orchid FAMILV 

A family of more than 12,000 species and on account of their 
flowers it is probably the most interesting group in the entire plant 
kingdom. They are widely distributed, although most abundant in 
the tropics. They are sometimes classified according to habit of 
growth as saprophytic, epiphytic and terrestrial. Most of the orchids 
common to the United States are either saprophytic or terrestrial 
plants. The epiphytic orchids are characteristic of the tropics and 
are by far the most valuable of the orchids. They are sometimes 
spoken of as parasitic, but this is erroneous, as none of the members 
of this family are parasitic. The stems show a characteristic mono- 
cotyledonous structure. Mucilage, in the form of a cell-content, 
occurs in those genera producing tubers. Similar mucilage cells 
are also found in the leaves and also in the roots of the epiphytic 
forms. 

Vanilla. — The fruit of Vanilla planifolia (Fam. Orchidacese) , a 
perennial climbing plant indigenous to Eastern Mexico, and now 
cultivated in various tropical islands, including the Seychelles, 
Mauritius, Java, as well as in the provinces of Vera Cruz and Oaxaca, 
in Mexico, from whence the best fruit is derived. Most of the 
vanilla used in the United States comes from Mexico. Some of the 
Reunion (or Bourbon) fruit is now also entering the market. 

The pollination of the flowers of the vanilla plant may be effected 
by insects but is usually brought about by artificial means (hand- 
pollination). The fruits require several months to become fully 
grown and an equal period of time is necessary for their maturity, 
which is indicated by their yellow color. They are then gathered 
and cured by alternately steaming and drying them, when they 
acquire the dark-brown color and the odor of the commercial article. 
Vanilla is cultivated in all tropical countries where the temperature 
does not fall below 18° C, and the humidity is very great. Usually 
vanilla culture is combined with that of Cacao. The plants be'gin to 
yield fruits the third year and continue bearing for thirty or forty 
years. 

Mexican Vanilla. — Pods narrow, linear, about 20 cm. long, 7 mm. 
in diameter, 4 mm. thick; summit oblique, with a circular scar; 



VANILLA 



13.1 



base curved or bent, with a slightly enlarged circular scar; externally 
blackish-brown, longitudinally wrinkled, moist, glossy, sometimes 
with acicular crystals or monoclinic prisms; pericarp about 1 mm. 
thick; internally dark brown, 1-locular, with numerous seeds em- 
bedded in a dark-colored pulp; seeds anatropous, ovoid, flattened, 
0.2 to 0.3 mm. in diameter, black, finely reticulate, reserve layers 
wanting, embryo shrunken; odor and taste distinct. 




Fig 



2 4 

55. — Vanilla; 3, . transverse section of an unripe fruit showing lines of union 
of the three carpels (a, b, c), line of dehiscence (D), placenta (t), seeds (S), 
fibrovascular bundle (g), papillae (P). 1, radial-longitudinal section of the 
outer part of the pericarp showing epidermis (E),smd parenchyma cells with 
oblique pores (v). 2, tangential-longitudinal section of the outer part of 
the pericarp showing cells with oblique pores (v) and spirally thickened bands 
(Sp). 4, inner layer of the pericarp showing the very long simple hairs or 
papillae. — After Meyer. 



Bourbon Vanilla resembles the Mexican Vanilla, but is about two- 
thirds as long and the outer surface is usually covered with crystals. 
Inner Structure, — See Fig. 55. 



132 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Powder. — (Fig. 56.) Blackish-brown; calcium oxalate in mono- 
clinic prisms 0.007 to 0.035 mm. in length, or in raphides about 0.4 
mm. long; occasional unicellular glandular papillae with rounded 
summit and containing oil-like globules of a balsam; sclerenchy- 
matous fibers more or less thick-walled, strongly lignified and with 
numerous oval pores; tracheae with spiral or reticulate thickenings ; 
minute, black, ovoid seeds about 0.5 in diameter, the structure being 
apparent only after boiling with chloral solution or solutions of the 
alkalies. The powder on treatment with a phloroglucin solution 




Fig. 56. — Vanilla: S, fragments of seeds showing characteristic stone cells; B, 
parenchyma cells with narrow-elongated simple pores; P, parenchyma con- 
taining oil globules; T, tracheae; L, lignified cells with simple pores; Ca, 
raphides of calcium oxalate; H, papillae-like hairs from the inner surface of 
the pericarp which are occasionally seen massed together. 



and sulphuric acid assumes a deep red color, due to the presence of 
vanillin. 

The powder is frequently admixed with tonka, which is easily 
determined by the presence of starch grains. Some of the so-called 
vanilla powders are mixtures containing vanillin or coumarin but 
none of the tissues of either vanilla or tonka. 



VANILLIN 133 

Constituents. — An odorous crystalline principle, vanillin, from 
1.5 to 3 per cent; an odorous, balsamic or resinous principle, which 
is developed during the process of curing and to which the peculiar 
odor of vanilla is due; sugar about 10 per cent; fixed oil about 10 
percent; calcium oxalate in raphides ; ash about 5 per cent. 

Vanillin or methyl-protocatechuic aldehyde is manufactured on a 
large scale from eugenol or coniferin. It occurs in white, acicular 
crystals (Figs. 57 and 58), which are sparingly soluble in water, sol- 
uble in alcohol and glycerin, the solutions being colored blue with 
ferric chloride. Vanillin may be formed as a result of certain oxida- 




Fig. 57. — Vanillin, orthorhombic crystals obtained from saturated aqueous 

solutions. 



tion changes rather than through the action of a ferment-like emulsion 
which, as has been recently shown, does not exist in the fresh pods. 

The fruits of a number of species of Vanilla yield vanillin, which is 
also found in the Orchid, Selenipedium Chica, of Panama; the fruit 
of Rosa canina, of Northern and Middle Europe; the flowers of 
Spireae Ulmaria; the balsams and resins of the genus Toluifera; in 
the seeds of Lupinus albus, of Europe, which is cultivated ; and in the 
bulbs of Dahlia. 

Commercial Varieties. — In addition to the Mexican and Bourbon 
beans, other varieties are found in the market. Mauritius Vanilla 



134 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

occurs in cylindrical pods that are as nearly as long as the Mexican 
variety, but paler in color and less odorous. Tahiti Vanilla, which is 
produced on the Island of Tahiti and the Hawaiian Islands, occurs in 
somewhat broader, flattened pods. The pods are nearly as long as 
the Mexican variety and sharply attenuated and twisted at the lower 
portion. The color is reddish-brown and the odor is disagreeable, 
unfitting it for use for flavoring. Vanillons are the fruits of wild 
plants and are used in the manufacture of tobacco and sachet powders. 
They are 10 to 12 cm. long, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. in diameter, gradually 
tapering towards each end, somewhat triangular in outline, exter- 
nally, dark-brown to reddish-brown, frequently with transverse 
markings, due to their being wrapped with twine during the process 
of curing, when they are spoken of as " braided," and generally longi- 
tudinally split; the odor is peculiar, somewhat resembling " helio- 
trope," and is due to the presence of phenol aldehyde, heliotropin 
(piperonal) which is closely related to vanillin. 

Pompona Vanilla is the fruit of wild and cultivated plants of 
Vanilla pompona, which is considered to be the original plant from 
which V. planifolia has been derived by cultivation. The fruits 
resemble the vanillons in appearance, but the odor is disagreeable, 
like that of Tahiti Vanilla. 

Vanilla splits and cuts represent the more mature fruits in which 
dehiscence has taken place and which are cut up into short 
lengths. 

Tonka seeds contain the odorous principle coumarin, which 
somewhat resembles vanillin. The ripe seeds of Coumarouna 
odorata (Fam. Leguminosse) , growing in the northern part of the 
Amazon region, furnish Dutch tonka, and C. oppositifolia, of Northern 
Brazil and Guiana, yields the English tonka. The Seeds are oblong, 
ovoid, somewhat flattened, 3 to 4 cm. long and about 1 cm. wide, 
externally nearly black, covered with crystals of Coumarin, the 
coriaceous testa being deeply wrinkled; internally yellowish-brown, 
consisting of two plano-convex cotyledons, enclosing a plumule 
with two pinnately compound leaves and a fleshy radicle which is 
directed towards the micropyle situated at the rounded end of the 
seed; the odor is fragrant, and the taste aromatic and somewhat 
pungent. 

Tonka seeds contain 1.5 to 3 per cent of coumarin or ortho- 
oxycinnamic anhydride, which forms colorless prisms having a 
fragrant odor and. a bitter, aromatic taste. Coumarin is sparingly 
soluble in water, but quite so in alcohol. Tonka also contains a 
large quantity of a fixed oil, irregularly elongated aleurone grains 



VANILLIN 



135 



Coumarm 



Vanillin 



Benzoic Acad. 





45W 



Crustals at Ordmaru Temperature 




Crystals at eo v to8 2°C, 

Fig. 58. — Examination of crystals by means of a thermo-stage. (1) Crystals at 
ordinary temperature. (2) Slide heated to 54-56° C. when Coumarin melts, 
the crystals of vanillin and benzoic acid remain normal. (3) Crystals heated 
from 80-82° C, at which temperature vanillin melts. 



136 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



0.010 to 0.035 mm. long, and spheroidal starch grains from 0.004 
to 0.008 mm. in diameter. 

Coumarin (Figs. 58 and 59), is rather widely distributed in 
nature. Of the plants in which it has been found the following may 
be mentioned: Vanilla grass or sweet vernal grass (Anthoxanthum 
odoratum); Carolina vanilla or dog's tongue (Trilisa odoratissima), 
one of the Composite; the yellow melilot (Melilotus officinalis), a 
leguminous herb found in waste places in the Eastern United States 




Fig. 59. — Coumarin. Type A, tabular crystals obtained by cooling melted 
coumarin to 54°-56° C; type B, aggregates of tubular crystals: type C, 
needles; type D, short prisms obtained from hot aqueous solutions. 



and in which it occurs free as well as combined with melilotic acid; 
other species of Melilotus, as well as in other genera of the Legu- 
minosse; sweet-scented bed straw (Galium triflorum), an herb of 
the Rubiacese growing in the United States; the rhizome of Vitis 
sessilifolia (VitaceaB) of Brazil, and in Prunus Mahaleb (Fam. Rosa- 
cea), of Europe. 

A number of the orchids contain coumarin, and these belong 
chiefly to the genus Orchis, as Orchis odoratissima, of Europe; O. 



LADY'S SLIPPER 



137 



coriophora, of Europe and the Orient; 0. Simia, of Europe and the 
Orient; 0. militaris, of Europe and Asia; Habernaria conopsea, of 
Europe and Asia; Aceras anthropophora, of Europe and Arabia. 

Cypripeditjm. — Lady's Slipper. — The dried rhizome and 
roots of Cypripedium parviflorum (Smaller Yellow Lady's Slipper) 





Fig. 60. — Cypripedium parviflorum pubescens. A, flowering plant; B, rhizome 
seen from above; C, cross-section of a ieptocentric mestome strand from the 
rhizome showing parenchyma (p), hadrome (h) } and leptome {I). — After 
Holm. 



and Cypripedium parviflorum pubescens (Larger Yellow Lady's 
Slipper) (Fam. Orchidaceee), perennial herbs (Fig. 60) native in woods 
and thickets of the Eastern and Central United States and Canada. 
Description. — Rhizome horizontal, somewhat tortuous and bent, 
3 to 7 cm. long, 2 to 4 mm. in diameter; externally dark brown, annu- 



138 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



late from scars of bud-scales, upper surface with numerous large, 
sometimes repressed scars, under and side portions with numerous 
roots and few root-scars; fracture short; internally light brown, 
cortex about 0.5 mm. thick, central cylinder somewhat porous, and 
with numerous scattered fibro vascular bundles; odor heavy, distinct; 



::TO?QCg3QQ 




Fig. 61. — Transverse section of central cylinder and portion of cortex of root of 
Cypripedium parviflorum pubescens: E, epidermis; H, hypodermis; Ca, 
Raphides of calcium oxalate; P, parenchyma containing starch {St); En, 
endodermis; F, lignified sclerenchymatous fibers; T, tracheae; B, non-lig- 
nified, thick-walled fibers exterior to sieve groups; L, peripheral layer of 
central cylinder. The latter usually consists of 6 to 8 radial fibrovascular 
bundles. 



taste bitter, somewhat pungent, 
are slightly cutinized (Fig. 61). 



The walls of the endodermal cells 



SALEP 139 

Roots 3 to 11 cm. long, 0.5 to 1.5 mm. in diameter; externally 
light or dark brown, longitudinally wrinkled; fracture somewhat 
fibrous; internally, cortex white, central cylinder yellowish. 

Inner Structure. — See Figs. 60 and 61. 

Powder. — Yellowish or brownish-black; calcium oxalate in 
raphides about 0.040 mm. in length; starch grains somewhat spher- 
oidal, 0.002 to 004 mm. in diameter, single or compound; tracheae 
spiral, scalariform or with simple pores; sclerenchymatous fibers 
long, thin-walled; parenchyma thick-walled, with numerous simple 
pores. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil, several resins, a bitter glucosidal 
principle, tannin, gallic acid, starch, calcium oxalate in the form of 
raphides, and ash about 6 per cent. 

The principle known as cypripedin is a resinous extract prepared 
by pouring a concentrated alcoholic tincture into water, collecting 
the precipitate and mixing it with some absorbent powder. In some 
cases it is merely an evaporated aqueous extract, but in either case 
it is practically worthless. 

Allied Plants. — The rhizomes and roots of other species of Cypri- 
pedium possess properties analogous to the drug just described and 
of these the following may be mentioned: Cypripedium aretinum, 
C. candidum, C. hirsutum and C. acaule. 

Salep. — Radix Salep or Tubera Salep. — The fleshy tuberous 
roots of various species of Orchis and other allied genera (Fam. 
Orchidaceae). The tubers are collected from wild plants growing 
in Asia Minor, southern and southwestern Asia and Germany. At 
the flowering period the plant has 2 tubers (Fig. 62), the one shriveled 
and from which the flowering plant is developed and another joined 
to it from which a new plant will be developed in the following season. 
Sometimes the commercial article shows both of these tubers; the 
shriveled one, however, should be rejected and only the young firm 
and fleshy tubers selected for the market. These are stripped of 
their brown outer covering, carefully washed, being boiled in order to 
destroy their vitality and to facilitate drying, which is done in the 
open air. The commercial supplies are chiefly obtained from Asia 
Minor, especially the ports of Smyrna and Constantinople. 

Description. — Nearly globular, ovoid or somewhat ellipsoidal, 
more or less compressed; from 1 to 4 cm. in length and from 0.5 to 2 
cm. in diameter; externally light yellowish or grayish-brown, some- 
what translucent, irregularly furrowed but otherwise nearly smooth, 
and occasionally with a small conical bud at the summit; hard and 
of a horny texture; inner surface with numerous scattered vascular 



140 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

bundles each surrounded by an endodermis so that no ring of endo- 
dermal tissue is present as is characteristic for the monocotyledons; 
inodorous and very mucilaginous. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 62). An epidermal layer, when present, 
of tabular cells, with suberized walls and sometimes developed into 
long root hairs. The drug consists for the most part of parenchyma 
either filled with a pasty mass of altered starch grains, or with 
mucilage cells each containing a bundle of raphides of calcium oxa- 
late. The fibrovascular bundles are of the radial type each being 
surrounded by a thin-walled endodermis. 

Powder. — Yellowish-brown, consisting of the tissues above men- 
tioned. 

Constituents. — Mucilage, 48 per cent; starch, 25 per cent; 
nitrogenous substances, 5 per cent; sugar 1 per cent; ash, from 1.5 
to 4 per cent; and a trace of volatile oil. 

Adulterants. — The flattened, 2- to 5-branched tubers, known as 
Radix Palmse Christi, do not contain as much mucilage and are 
sometimes seen in the drug of commerce. The Royal Salep of 
Afghanistan is edible and is derived from Allium Macleanii. 

DICOTYLEDONS 

The plants of this group are the highest in the plant kingdom and 
comprise from two-thirds to three-fourths of the living Angiosperms. 
They are characterized by having two seed-leaves. These leaves 
also known as primordial leaves are distinguished from those formed 
later on the stem known as foliage leaves. The latter are usually 
reticulately veined, i.e., the veinings forming a network. The flower- 
parts are arranged in spirals of 2 to 5, and are usually readily distin- 
guished from those of the monocotyledons. The roots and stems are 
characterized by a distinct wood and bark being formed by a cambium 
and hence the class is sometimes known as Exogens. The studies 
on this group of plants have been very extensive and their comparative 
anatomy is included in an excellent work on " Systematic Anatomy 
of the Dicotyledons " by Hans Solereder, an English translation of 
which is available. The general outer morphology of the orders 
comprising this group are enumerated in Kraemer's Applied and 
Economic Botany and hence special attention will be given here to 
generalizations concerning their inner morphology. While, of course, 
there are some difficulties in framing hard and fast rules, yet the 
considerations here given will be found very helpful in practice when 
identifying unknown drugs. 



SALEP 



141 




Fig. 62. — Salep. A, longitudinal section through the middle of a young tuberous 
root or tuber, showing portion of the old tuber (A) and the vascular bundles 
(Gf) connecting the two tubers, and the following parts of the young tuber; 
s, b, u, bud scales; w, root; h, root-cap, the whole being developed within 
the tissues of the axis of the mother tuber in a kind of sac (P). B, a pair of 
tubers, the one on the right being the parent tuber, and that on the left the 
young tuber from which the new plant will be developed in the coming season. 
The latter shows the remains of the sac-like scale (P) and through which 
the tuber has developed. C, longitudinal section through some of the paren- 
chyma cells (P) showing the mucilage cells (S) with their small bundles of 
raphides. D, a radial vascular bundle showing the alternating plates of 
leptome (S) and tracheal (T). — After Meyer. 



142 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

PIPERACEiE, OR PEPPER FAMILY 

Mostly herbs and shrubs which are characterized by having 
secretory cells in the stems and leaves. In the latter they are con- 
spicuous as small transparent dots. The secretory cells are spheroidal 
in shape, with suberized walls that contain a whitish or brownish-red 
secretion. The leaves are all bifacial in structure, the stomata 
occurring only on the lower surface being usually surrounded by a 
cluster of epidermal cells in the form of a rosette. Both non-glan- 
dular and glandular hairs may be present. Calcium oxalate occurs 
in the form of raphides, rosette aggregates or micro-crystals. The 
tracheae possess either simple pores or scalariform thickenings. 
There are four types of vacular bundles in the stems of the plants of 
this family. 

Piper. — Black Pepper. — The fruit of Piper nigrum (Fam. 
Piperaceee), a woody, perennial climber, indigenous to Cochin China 
and various parts of India and cultivated in the East Indies, West 
Indies and other tropical countries. The fruit is gathered when full 
grown, removed from the rachis and dried in the sun. The com- 
mercial supplies are obtained from plants cultivated in Java, Suma- 
tra and other islands of the Malay Archipelago, the principal points 
of export being Batavia and Singapore. The latter furnishes the 
best grade of black pepper and as it is dried by artificial heat it has a 
somewhat smoky odor and taste. The most of the other black 
peppers or peppercorns are dried in the sun. 

Description. — Drupe dry, superior, nearly globular, 4 to 6 mm. 
in diameter, epicarp very thin, easily separable from the sarcocarp; 
externally blackish-brown, coarsely reticulate, summit with remains 
of sessile stigma, base with scar of pedicel, sarcocarp and endocarp 
dark brown and with numerous longitudinal veins; seed atropous, 
broadly ovoid, 4 to 5 mm. in diameter, externally reddish-brown, 
micropylar end pointed, chalazal end marked by a small scar; inter- 
nally yellowish-green ; perisperm large and usually with a cavity near 
the middle 1 mm. or more wide, the endosperm small, situated at one 
end of the fruit and embryo small, frequently more or less shriveled; 
odor aromatic, slightly empyreumatic; taste aromatic and pungent, 
i Inner Structure. — (Fig. 63). The epicarp consists of a layer of 
polygonal cells with dark brown content; beneath this, one or more 
interrupted rows of strongly lignified, more or less radially elongated 
stone cells occur; the sarcocarp contains a more or less interrupted 
layer of oil cells with suberized walls; the endocarp consists of char- 
acteristic stone cells, which are horse-shoe shaped, the inner and radial 



PEPPER 



143 



walls being thickened and commonly referred to as " beaker cells." 
The perisperm consists chiefly of radially elongated cells containing 
numerous starch grains which are 0.002 to 0.006 mm. in diameter; 
some resin cells; cells containing needle-shaped crystals of piperine, 
and in the outer layers small aleurone grains. 

Powder. — (Figs. 63 and 64.) Grayish-brown; stone cells nearly 
isodiametric, uniformly thickened or with only three walls thick> 
ened, the contents consisting of yellowish-brown tannin masses, 



am 




\ 

V 










Fig. 63. — B^ack pepper: ep, polygonal cells of the epicarp, beneath which are the 
hypodermal stone cells (ast); bf, elongated bast fibers; bp, short bast fibers; 
sp., tracheae with spiral markings; ist, stone cells of the endocarp; is, as, frag- 
ments of tissues beneath the endocarp ; am, parenchyma cells of the perisperm 
containing stareh grains; A, starch grains; p, oil cells. — After Moeller. 



which give a blue reaction with ferric ammonium sulphate solution; 
starch grains spheroidal or angular, from 0.001 to 0.003 mm. in diam- 
eter; parenchyma with remains of chromoplastids and reddish- 
brown amorphous masses; oil-secretion cells with suberized walls; 
oil globules numerous. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil 1 to 2 per cent, containing dipentene, 
phellandrene and a peculiar terpene; the alkaloid piperine, 4.5 to 



144 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 64. — A mixture sold as ground black pepper: A, stone cells of olive endo- 
carp; S, corn and wheat starch grains; B, stone cells of pepper hulls; C, 
fragments of seed coat and pericarp of cayenne pepper; L, crystals of calcium 
sulphate which separate on mounting the specimen in 25 per cent sulphuric 
acid. 



PEPPER 145 

8 per cent, which crystallizes in colorless, tasteless, 4-sided prisms 
which are colored bright green by means of concentrated sulphuric 
acid and formaldehyde, and with potassium hydrate or sulphuric 
acid give a red color; piperidine, a colorless liquid alkaloid, which is 
a derivative of piperine, about 0.5 per cent; a pungent resin, chavicin; 
starch, 25 to 40 per cent; tannin; proteins, about 10 per cent; ash, 
about 5 per cent. 

Black pepper should yield not less than 6 per cent of a non-vola- 
tile ether extract nor less than 25 per cent of starch. The ash should 
be not more than 7 per cent, of which only 2 per cent is insoluble in 
hydrochloric acid. The crude fiber should be not more than 15 per 
cent. 

Piperine is rather easily prepared from white pepper as follows: 
The ground pepper is mixed with an equal weight of lime and a small 
quantity of water is added. The mixture is heated to boiling for 
about fifteen minutes, and is then evaporated and carefully dried 
upon a water-bath. The residue is powdered and extracted with 
ether. The ethereal solution contains the piperine, which separates 
in the form of crystals. It is purified by recrystallization from hot 
alcoholic solutions. 

Piperine is a weak base, dissolving in dilute acids without forming 
salts and on this account may be separated from acid solutions with 
petroleum ether. It forms crystalline double salts with platinic 
chloride, mercuric chloride and iodin-potassium-iodide. At 25° C. 
one part of piperine is soluble in 15 parts of alcohol; 36 parts of ether 
and 1.7 parts of chloroform. It is nearly insoluble in water. The 
individual crystals formed on a microscopic slide from hot alcoholic 
solutions of piperine vary in length from 0.1 mm. to 1.5 mm. 1 Iso- 
lated aggregates are also formed. As in cubebin we find numerous 
oily-looking drops of the amorphous substance, but with piperine 
they often have the outline of crystals, as if the latter were first 
formed, and later transformed by fusion or otherwise into the amor- 
phous material. On the other hand the crystals grow, on long 
standing, at the expense of the drops. In sections of the crude drug 
it is not at all uncommon to find in the oil secretion cells the charac- 
teristic crystals of piperine. 

Standard of Purity. — Black pepper is the dried immature berry of 
Piper nigrum L. It contains not less than 6 T 7 ^ per cent of non- 
volatile ether extract, not less than 30 per cent of starch, nor more than 

1 For micro-photographic illustration of crystals of piperine, consult Kraemer's 
Applied and Economic Botany, pp. 161, 771. 



146 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

7 per cent of total ash, nor more than 1.5 per cent of ash insoluble in 
hydrochloric acid. 

Ground black pepper is the product made by grinding the entire 
berry of Piper nigrum L. It contains the several parts of the berry 
in their normal proportions. 

Long pepper is the dried fruit of Piper longum L. 

White pepper is the dried mature berry of Piper nigrum L., from 
which the outer coating, or the outer and inner coatings have been 
removed. It contains not less than 7 per cent of non-volatile ether 
extract, not less than 52 per cent of starch, not more than 5 per cent 
of crude fiber, not more than 3.5 per cent of total ash, nor more than 
0.3 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. (U. S. Dept Agric.) 

Allied Products. — The fruits of Piper nigrum are sometimes 
allowed to ripen and the epicarp is separated by hand or machinery 
after the fruits have been soaked in salt water or lime water. The 
fruits are then known as white peppercorns or white pepper, are 
nearly smooth, of a light gray or yellow color, and, while less aromatic 
and pungent than the black pepper or black peppercorns, possess 
a fine flavor. White pepper yields 3.9 to 6.47 per cent of 
piperine. 

Piper longum, a shrub indigenous to the Malay Archipelago, 
yields the so-called " long pepper," which consists of the entire 
spikes of the immature fruit; the spikes are cylindrical, from 2.5 to 
4 cm. long, about 5 mm. thick, of a grayish-black color, and the 
drupes are less aromatic and pungent than the official pepper. In 
structure long pepper is distinguished by the absence of oil cells in 
the sarcocarp, and " beaker cells " of the endocarp, and the larger 
starch grains (0.002 to 0.010 mm. in diameter) in the perisperm. 
Long pepper yields about 1 per cent of a volatile oil with the pungent 
taste of the oil of pepper but an odor resembling that of ginger; and 
about 4.24 per cent of piperine. 

Long pepper is also obtained from Piper officinarum, of Java, 
India and the Philippine Islands; Piper sylvaticum, of Eastern 
India; Chavica officinarum, of the West Indies; and Pepperonia 
acuminata, of Peru. 

Adulterants. — The poorer black peppers, known as Acheen 
pepper, are light in weight, consist more or less of shells and are 
usually considerably broken. They are frequently contaminated 
with stems, earth and small stones. Penang white pepper has a 
grayish color and is coated with a substance containing considerable 
calcium carbonate. Pepper hulls or pepper shells, representing the 
broken pericarp of the fruit obtained in the preparation of white 



MATICO 147 

pepper, consist of small grayish-black fragments, containing numerous 
stone cells, and they yield a high percentage of fiber and ash. 

Ground black pepper is sometimes adulterated with pepper hulls 
or pepper shells, which are the outer layers of the ripe fruit and are 
obtained in the preparation of white pepper. Pepper hulls consist 
chiefly of the stone cells described above. They increase the per- 
centage of crude fiber and ash in the powder, the latter being due to 
adhering dirt. Ground black pepper sometimes consists of a mix- 
ture of pepper hulls, capsicum and the endocarp of the olive (Fig. 64) . 
In the latter the lumen of the stone cells is filled with air. Black 
pepper has also been adulterated with flaxseed meal and buckwheat 
hulls. The latter are distinguished by the epidermal cells with 
peculiar diagonal thickening of the walls and the hypodermal fibers 
which have thick, porous walls and brown contents. 

Substitutes. — The fruit of Embelia ribes (Fam. Myrsinacese) , a 
small tree of India, has been used as an adulterant of both pepper 
and cubeb. The blackish drupes resemble black pepper. They are 
very aromatic and yield a principle, embelic acid, which crystallizes 
in golden-yellow prisms, the alcoholic solution of which is colored 
red with ammonia. 

The fruit of Polyadenia pipericarpa (Fam. Lauraceae) , of Sumatra, 
is also used in place of pepper. The fruits of a number of species of 
Xylopia (Fam. Anonacese) contain aromatic and bitter principles, 
some of these being used as a condiment like pepper, as X. aethiopica, 
which are also used as a medium of exchange by the natives of Uadai 
(Africa), and X. grandiflora, X. sericea and X. frutescens of Brazil. 
X. aromatica yields the Guinea pepper. 

Literature. — Kraemer and Sindall, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1908, 
p. 1; Molisch, Grundriss einer Histochemie der Pflanzlichen Genuss- 
mittel, (1891), pp. 27-29. 

Matico. — The dried leaves of Piper angustifolium (Fam. Piper- 
aceae), a shrub indigenous to Peru and Boliva. 

Description. — Usually in large, compressed, matted masses; 
lamina narrow, oblong-lanceolate, 10 to 20 cm. long, 2 to 5 cm. 
broad; summit acute and long-tapering; base unequal, slightly 
cordate; margin finely crenulate, with broad, truncate teeth; upper 
surface dark green, tessellated, harsh to the touch from the presence 
of numerous very small papilla? and minute, bristly hairs ; lower sur- 
face grayish-green, reticulate, matted-hairy, velvety to the touch, 
the veins being very prominent and yellowish-brown, those of the 
first order diverging at an angle of 65° to 80°, then curving and con- 
verging at the summit; petiole 2 to 3 mm. long, texture fragile when 



148 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 65. — Matico. A, branch of Piper angustifolium. B, fragment showing 
upper surface. C, fragment showing petiole and lower deeply reticulate 
surface. — After Thorns. 



CUBEB 149 

dry; odor pronounced, aromatic; taste aromatic, pungent, pepper- 
like. 

The drug is generally admixed with the flower spikes, which 
are 2.5 to 15 cm. long and about 2 mm. in diameter, yellowish-brown, 
and consisting of very small perfect flowers, which are subtended by 
bracts fringed on the margin with long, multicellular, non-glandular 
hairs; or the spikes may bear the mature fruits, consisting of some- 
what cubical or tetragonal, reddish-brown drupes, which are 0.5 to 1 
mm. in diameter and finely reticulate, somewhat like the seeds of 
lobelia. 

A few of the jointed stems with swollen nodes are also present. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 66. 

Powder. — (Fig. 66). Grayish-green or greenish-yellow; non- 
glandular hairs numerous. 1- to 6-celled. varying from 0.2 to 1 mm. 
in length, with walls 0.002 to 0.004 mm. thick and striate, the apical 
cell being sharply pointed; numerous globular, yellowish or reddish 
resin masses in oil glands of leaf; fragments of perianth with fan- 
shaped upper portion, composed of numerous long, non-glandular 
hairs, which are much collapsed and deeply striate; seeds reddish- 
brown and distinctly reticulate. 

Constituents. — From 2 to 3 per cent of a volatile oil. containing a 
stearoptene matico camphor, which appears to be the most important 
constituent. It also contains an acrid resin, a bitter principle and a 
crystalline principle artanthic acid. 

Adulterants. — The drug is frequently admixed with, or entirely 
substituted by, other species of Piper. Of these may be mentioned 
P. camphoriferum (the oil of which contains borneol and camphor), 
P. lineatum, P. angustifolium Ossanum. P. acutifolium subver- 
bascifolium, P. molliconum and P. asperifolium. 

Matico has also been substituted by the leaves of Eupatorium 
glutinosum, Fam. Composite. The latter are opposite, having a 
serrate margin and cordate base. (U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Literature. — Thorns, Arbeiten d. Pharm. Institut d. Universitat 
Berlin, 1910, p. 70. 

Cubeba. — Cubeb Berries. — The fruit of Piper Cubeba (Fam. 
Piperacea?), a woody climber, indigenous to Borneo. Java and 
Sumatra, where it is apparently also cultivated. The fruit is gath- 
ered when full grown but still green, and carefully dried in the sun, 
the commercial supplies being shipped from Batavia and Singapore. 

Description. — Drupe dry, superior, globular, 4 to 6 mm. in 
diameter, with a straight, slender peduncle 5 to 7 mm. long; exter- 
nally dark brown, coarsely reticulate summit with remains of 3 to 



150 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 66. — Matico. A, branch with leaves and flower spikes (/); B, section of 
leaf showing one of the truncate teeth, fibro vascular bundle (v), oil-secretion 
reservoirs (o); C, transverse section of leaf near two veins, showing upper 
epidermis of several layers (e), palisade cells (p), tracheae (t), sieve (s), col- 
lenchyma (c), loose parenchyma containing crystals of calcium oxalate (ca), 
hairs (h); D, transverse section of leaf showing in addition an oil-secretion 
reservoir (o); E, portion of lower epidermis showing three stomata; F, por- 
tion of upper epidermis; G, portion of leaf showing the glandular-punctate 
character due to the oil-secretion reservoirs (o); H, non-glandular hairs; /, 
stamen; /, pollen grains, which are about 0.010 mm. in diameter; K, prisms 
of calcium oxalate; L, a hair from the perianth; M, tracheae from the stem 
with spiral and annular markings. 



CUBEB 



151 



4 stigmas; pericarp about 0.3 mm. thick; internally light brown, 
smooth, oily, 1-locular, 1-seeded; seed atropous, broadly ovoid, 
4 to 5 mm. in diameter, reddish-brown, straight, mostly smooth on 
one side where it lies against the pericarp, chalazal end with a broad 
scar, micropyle with a slight depression, a small embryo at the upper 
end of the reserve layer; odor distinct; taste aromatic and pungent. 
Inner Structure. — See Fig. 67. 




Fig. 67. — Cubeb: A, transverse section of the pericarp showing epidermis (Ep), 
stone cells (Sc), oil cells (Se), parenchyma (P), collapsed parenchyma tissue 
(z), endocarp (En) composed of stone cells. B, spike showing bracts (o), 
young sessile fruits (d), and a mature fruit with long pedicel (e). C, longi- 
tudinal section of mature fruit showing pericarp (i), union (I) of seed and 
pericarp, large perisperm (fe), small endosperm (m), which surrounds the 
embryo (E). D, flower diagram showing the position of the flower in refer- 
ence to the rachis (a), bract (D) and pericarp (c) which surrounds the ovule 
(S). — After Meyer. 



Powder. — (Fig. 68). Light brown to blackish-brown; stone cells 
single or in isolated groups, nearly isodiametric, thick-walled, with 
numerous simple pores, and colorless or light-yellow contents; 
sclerenchymatous fibers few, short, thick-walled, strongly lignified; 
parenchymatous cells with reddish-brown tannin masses; oil-secre- 



152 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



tion cells with suberized walls ; oil globules numerous ; fragments of 
powder becoming wine-colored with sulphuric acid. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil 10 to 18 per cent, consisting chiefly of 
terpenes and sesquiterpenes and a sesquiterpene hydrate known as 
cubeb camphor; several resins, 2.5 to 3.5 per cent, one of which is 
acrid, the other a so-called indifferent resin; cubebic acid, 1 to 3.5 
per cent, this being colored reddish with sulphuric acid; a bitter 
crystalline principle, cubebin, 0.4 to 3 per cent; fixed oil, 1 per cent; 
gum, 8 per cent; starch, and about 6 per cent of ash. 




eV ©^© 

Fig. 68. — Powdered Cubeb. Sc, sclerenchymatous fibers; St, stone cells; 
P, parenchyma cells; Pe, parenchyma of perisperm filled with starch; S, 
starch grains 0.002 to 0.012 mm. in diameter; T, tracheae; O, oil globules; 
F, reddish-brown amorphous fragments. Drawing by Hogstad. 



Allied Plants. — A number of other species of Piper yield fruits 
resembling cubeb, as Piper Clusii, of West Africa; P. borbonense, of 
Bourbon; P. sumatranum and P. pedicellosum, of Indo-China. 

The fruit of Toddalia lanceolata (Fam. Rutacese) is used in Africa 
in place of cubeb (berries). The fruits of Litsea citrata have been 
sold as false cubeb, and those of Litsea Cubeba (Fam. Lauraceae) are 
substituted for cubeb in Cochin China. 

Adulterants. — The fruits of other species of Piper sometimes find 
their way into market; these are grayish in color, somewhat bitter, 



KAVA 153 

and do not give a wine-colored reaction with sulphuric acid. Not 
infrequently a considerable amount of the rachis is present and this 
contains a relatively small amount of the active principles. 

Literature.— Zornig, Arzneidrogen. 

Kava. — Kava-Kava, Methysticum, Kav^e Rhizoma or Rhi- 
zoma Kawa-Kawa. — The rhizomes of Piper methysticum (Fam. 
Piperacese), a plant indigenous to and cultivated in the South Sea 
Islands from Hawaii to the East Indies. The rhizome is largely used 
in these countries in the preparation of an intoxicating drink, which is 
prepared by macerating the drug in water. It has only recently 
come into prominence again and is used to a limited extent in medi- 
cine. Formerly the entire rhizome was found in commerce but at the 
present time the drug is carefully prepared by first removing the 
outer corky layer with roots, cutting it into short pieces, and 
dried. 

Description. — In irregular transverse and longitudinal pieces, 
varying from 3 to 8 cm. in length and 1 to 5 cm. in diameter; exter- 
nally light yellowish or grayish-brown, longitudinally wrinkled and 
with large circular root scars; fracture of small pieces short and 
mealy and of thicker pieces tough; inner surface light yellowish- 
brown, with a large pith, a distinctly radiate xylem and occasionally 
a thin bark; a drop of sulphuric acid applied to the surface produces 
a deep cherry red color; odor slight; taste sweetish, pungent, fol- 
lowed by a slight numbness. Pieces of the stem are more woody and 
have a hollow pith. 

Inner Structure. — Hypodermis of several rows of cells containing 
a greenish-yellow or yellowish-brown resin; in the layers of collen- 
chymatous cells occur stone cells and cells containing an amorphous 
resinous substance; leptome composed of thin- walled more or less 
collapsed cells; xylem composed of wood wedges with broad med- 
ullary rays, the walls of the latter being more or less lignified and the 
lumina containing a brownish amorphous resinous substance; pith 
consisting of starch-bearing parenchyma in which are distributed 
concentric fibrovascular bundles largely composed of tracheid-like 
cells. The roots show a distinctly radiate structure, the medullary 
rays being of a sclerenchymatous nature. 

Powder. — (Fig. 69.) Light yellowish-brown; starch grains 
numerous, single or 2- to 3-compound, the individual grains being 
spheroidal or planoconvex, from 0.006 to 0.045 mm. in diameter and 
marked by nearly central radial clefts or triangular fissures ; lignified 
elements consisting of scalariform or reticulate tracheae and scleren- 
chymatous fibers; secretion cells containing either greenish-yellow, 



154 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



yellowish-red or yellowish-brown amorphous masses. Micro-sub- 
limate crystals of methysticin are readily obtainable (Fig. 69). 

Constituents. — About 5.3 per cent of resin consisting of two dis- 
tinct resinous principles, a free resin acid and resene; the active 
constituent, methysticin, 0.30 per cent, co-methysticin 0.27 per cent; 
yangonin, 0.2 per cent; an alkaloid 0.02 per cent; two glucosides 
amounting to 0.7 per cent; an amorphous acid insoluble in water, 




Fig. 69. — Microcrystals formed in Kava-kava, the root of Piper methysticum : 
A, crystals of methysticin obtained on treatment on sections of the root or 
the powder with alcohol, the crystals being of a light yellow color, attaining a 
length of 0.160 mm. and becoming of a violet red on the addition of sulphuric 
acid. B, crystals of methysticinic acid obtained upon heating a small quan- 
tity of the powder with one or two drops of a solution of potassium hydroxide 
and adding dilute alcohol and allowing the slide to stand for twenty-four 
hours. Crystals of methysticin can also be obtained upon sublimation, pro- 
viding the powder has been acted on previously with dilute sulphuric acid, 
emulsin or saliva. — After Tunmann in Gehe & Co.'s Handelsbericht, 1912. 

0.75 per cent; ash not more than 8 per cent; starch 50 per cent: also 
mucilage and sugar. 

Literature. — Zornig, Arzneidrogen. 



WILLOW 155 

SALICACE^E, OR WILLOW FAMILY 

This family consists of two genera, viz. : Salix and Populus, and 
of which there are 200 or more species. They are mostly native of 
the north temperate zone, some growing in the Arctic regions and 
necessarily being of diminutive stature. The willows usually grow 
in wet ground and are sometimes used, like the Australian eucalyptus, 
in drying out damp ground especially where the conditions are unsan- 
itary. The willows are extensively cultivated not only for orna- 
mental purposes but for economic purposes. The twigs are used in 
the making of baskets, and the wood furnishes a charcoal which is 
employed in medicine and in making crayons and gunpowder. The 
" pussy willow " (Salix discolor) is a small tree rather common in low 
meadows and river banks and is marked by thick cylindrical aments, 
the scales being copiously clothed with long glossy hairs. The Pop- 
lars are sometimes planted because of their rapid growth as shade 
trees. They are also grown to serve as windbreaks in the Western 
States. The wood is largely used in making paper, card-board, etc. 
The balsam-poplar or tacamahac (Populus balsamifera) and balm of 
Gilead (P. candicans) are well-known trees of the United States and 
distinguished by their large buds, which are copiously covered with 
a fragrant resin. 

Some of the important anatomical characteristics of this family 
are the following: In the stem there is a superficial development of 
the periderm and isolated bundles of bast fibers : the medullary rays 
are from 1 to 2 cells in width; the tracheae usually possess simple 
pores and the wood parenchyma, which is scantily developed, con- 
tains thick, porous walls. In the leaves the inner walls of the epi- 
dermal cells may be modified to mucilage; the stomata are accom- 
panied by subsidiary cells arranged parallel to the pores, the hairs 
are of the simple unicellular type, and the leaf-teeth may become 
glandular, excreting an excess of balsam in certain species of Salix 
and Populus. Calcium oxalate occurs in the form of rosette aggre- 
gates and solitary crystals. In some cases the pith may contain a 
deposition of carbonate of calcium. 

Salix. — Cortex Salicis, Willow Bark. — The bark of Salix alba 
(Fam. Salicacese), a noble tree indigenous to Europe, and nat- 
uralized in the northern United States and Canada. In the spring 
of the year the bark is stripped from the two or three year old branches 
and quickly dried. The commercial article frequently consists in a 
large part of the bark of more mature branches or the trunk of young 
trees and is frequently deprived of the periderm. 



156 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Description. — In quills or in long flat pieces, sometimes as long as 
1 M. and from 0.5 to 1 mm. in thickness; outer surface yellowish- 
brown or blackish-brown, irregularly wrinkled and rough-scaly in the 
older bark; inner surface cinnamon brown, finely longitudinally 
wrinkled; fracture short fibrous, the inner portion separable into thin 
layers; the cut surface colored red with sulphuric acid (presence of 
salicin), and colored dark green upon the addition of a solution of a 
ferric salt (presence of tannin); odor slight, aromatic; taste bitter 
and astringent. e 

Inner Structure. — The epidermal cells when present possess thick, 
nearly uniform outer walls. The cork cells are developed within the 
hypodermis and are much thickened on the outer walls. The primary 
bark consists of a layer of small collenchymatous cells and paren- 
chyma containing starch, rosettes of calcium oxalate, tannic acid and 
sometimes chloroplastids. The inner bark consists of small groups 
of bast fibers and leptome separated by 1-celled medullary rays; the 
groups of bast fibers are surrounded by crystal fibers, each containing 
a rhombohedral crystal of calcium oxalate. 

Constituents. — A bitter glucoside, Salicin, the amount of which 
varies in different portions of the bark and according to the time when 
it is gathered, as follows: outer bark, 2.5 percent; middle bark, 5.8 
per cent; innermost layers, 11.3 per cent; bark collected in spring, 
7.38 per cent; and that gathered in the fall, 6.66 per cent. Salicin 
through the actions of ferments forms saligenin, which latter when 
taken into the human system is decomposed into salicylic acid. The 
drug also contains 13 per cent of tannic acid; calcium oxalate, gum 
and wax. 

Salicin crystallizes in orthorhombic prisms and when examined 
by means of polarized light, using crossed Nicols, they display beau- 
tiful colors. For color plate showing these crystals in polarized 
fight, consult Kraemer's Applied and Economic Botany. 

Allied Plants. — The bark of the black willow (Salix nigra) is used 
to some extent in this country. The tree is rather common in the 
United States, growing almost everywhere excepting California. The 
bark of Salix discolor contains, in addition to salicin, the glucoside of 
metahydroxybenzaldehyde, salinigrin. — Power, Pharm. Jour., 1902 
(69), p. 157. 

Literature. — Zornig, Arzneidrogen. 

Carbo Ligni. — Carbo Ligni Pulveratus, Carbo Ligni Depura- 
tus, or Wood Charcoal. — The carbonaceous residue that remains 
after heating, without access of air, the wood of one of more species 
of the following genera: Salix, Populus, Quercus or Corylus. 



POPLAR BUDS 157 

A number of methods are employed in the production of Charcoal as 
the use of heaps, iron cylinders or overheated steam. The yield of 
Charcoal varies from 15 to 25 per cent and that made from the willow 
is preferred. Maple charcoal is also largely employed. 

Charcoal retains the shape of the pieces of wood from which 
it is formed. It is black, inodorous, tasteless, very porous, brittle 
and insoluble in any of the ordinary solvents. In medicine it is 
usually used in the powdered form and when examined by means of 
the microscope it is seen to consist for the most part of purplish- 
black irregular structureless fragments. It consists largely of pure 
carbon, retaining the ash of the wood from which it was derived. 
Upon heating a small quantity of charcoal with alcohol and filtering, 
the filtrate should leave no residue upon evaporation. If 1 gm. of 
charcoal is boiled with 5 c.c. of a solution of one of the alkalies and 
filtered, the filtrate should be colorless (evidence of complete carbon- 
ization). The soluble ash in charcoal may be extracted by means of 
dilute hydrochloric acid. 

A fine charcoal is made from the wood of the Linden and Poplar 
in Europe; and under the name of Carbo Panis a charcoal is made 
from bread. 

Gemmae Populi. — Turiones Populi, Balsam Poplar Buds or 
Balm of Gilead Buds. — The buds of the balsam poplar or Taca- 
mahac (Populus balsamifera) (Fam. Salicacese). This tree is found 
in the northern United States and British America, and its trunk 
sometimes measures nearly 2 M. in diameter. In the early spring 
the buds are gathered before they open. They are lanceolate- 
cylindrical, with a broad base and sharp-pointed summit; from 20 to 
25 mm. in length and about 5 mm. in diameter at the base, the ter- 
minal buds being longer than the axillary ones. They are saturated 
with a yellow balsamic exudation, which in the fresh buds is very 
sticky, and are covered with fine oblong, pointed, concave, closely 
imbricated, thick scales having a light-brown color and being very 
lustrous on the outer surface. These latter form a thin shell inside 
of which at the base are the young leaves, with their protecting scales 
and hairs, arranged on a cylindrical axis. They have a balsamic odor 
somewhat suggestive of chamomile and an aromatic and bitter taste. 

The poplar buds contain 0.5 per cent of a light yellow volatile oil, 
which is soluble in alcohol, and consists principally of humulene. 
They also contain a soft balsamic resin, gallic acid, malic acid, salicin, 
populin, mannit, chrysin, fixed oil and tectochrysin. 

The buds of other species of Populus are also said to furnish some 
of the commercial article. The buds of the fir (Albies balsamea) 



158 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

furnish an article known as False Balm of Gilead Buds which are 
very aromatic and resinous and contain besides tannin a bitter 
glucoside, picein. 

Populus. — Poplar. — The bark of the White or Silver poplar, 
also known as the Great Aspen or Abele (Populus alba). The drug 
consists of quills or flat pieces, varying in length and from 0.5 to 3 
mm. in thickness; outer surface greenish-white, smooth and with 
numerous lenticels; inner surface light brown and longitudinally 
striated; fracture short-fibrous; odor slight; taste bitter and 
astringent. The bark contains in addition to salicin, the glucoside, 
populin or benzoyl-salicin, which forms needle-shaped crystals, hav- 
ing a somewhat sweetish and acid taste and yield upon hydrolysis 
saligenin or salicylic alcohol and benzoic acid. 

MYRICACEjE, OR SWEET GALE FAMILY 

A family consisting of a single genus and of which the wax myrtle 
or bay berry (Myrica cerifera) is best known. The latter is a small 
shrub growing in sandy soil in North America, especially near the sea 
coast, and produces diminutive clusters of small berries which are 
covered with a wax, which is used when mixed with tallow to form 
candles, hence it is sometimes known as Candleberry. As a matter 
of fact, all of the species yield useful products, some furnishing 
astringent barks while from the leaves of the sweet gale (M. Gale) is 
derived a volatile oil. 

It is sometimes stated that none of the species contains 
either bast fibers or stone cells, but in Myrica Gale there are isolated 
bundles of primary bast fibers with intermediate groups of stone cells, 
which, in other species, form a continuous ring. The tracheae have 
scalariform thickenings. Stomata are found only on the lower sur- 
face. The hairs are unicellular and in the form of peltate glands. 
In Myrica Gale the non-glandular hairs are lignified. 

Myrica. — Myrica Bark or Bayberry Bark. — The bark of the 
root of Myrica cerifera (Fam. Myricacese), a common shrub grow- 
ing on the borders of the sea coast from Maine to Florida. The roots 
are gathered late in the fall, freed from dirt, the bark separated and 
carefully dried. Sometimes the bark is prepared by contusing the 
roots, separating the bark, drying and powdering. Both the bark 
and the powder should be kept in tightly closed containers and not 
exposed to light. 

Description. — In transversely curved strips, or quilled pieces; 
from 2 to 15 cm. in length, 0.5 to 2 cm. in breadth and from 1 to 2 mm. 



BAYBERRY 159 

in thickness; outer surface reddish-brown, nearly smooth, sometimes 
wrinkled, with occasional silver gray patches of the epidermal layer; 
inner surface very dark brown and finely striate; fracture short, 
mealy, emitting a dust which is sternutatory; fractured surface light 
brown in the outer portion and yellowish-brown in the inner layer; 
odor distinct, aromatic ; taste slightly bitter and astringent, becoming 
pungent and acrid. 

Powder. — Light reddish-brown; sternutatory; starch grains 
numerous, single or 2- to 4-compound, the individual grains from 
0.003 to 0.012 mm. in length; calcium oxalate in monoclinic prisms 
or rosette aggregates, from 0.015 to 0.045 mm. in diameter; bast 
fibers with strongly lignified, porous walls and often accompanied 
with crystal fibers; stone cells with thick lignified, finely lamellated, 
porous walls; cork cells with thick lignified or brownish walls and 
filled with a reddish amorphous substance; occasional woody frag- 
ments showing tracheae having bordered pores. 

Constituents. — A small quantity of a volatile oil; two resins, the 
one soluble in alcohol and ether, the other insoluble in ether and 
astringent; myricinic acid; from 2.5 to 3.5 per cent of tannic acid; 
a trace of gallic acid; 4 per cent of sugar and 0.6 per cent of mucilage. 

Allied Plants. — The leaves of Myrica cerifera yield about 3 per 
cent of a greenish, aromatic volatile oil. The fruits of this same plant 
contain 32 per cent of a solid fat consisting of palmitin, palmitic acid 
and lauric acid; and 5 per cent of resin and 45 per cent of starch. 

The rhizome and leaves of the Sweet Fern (Myrica asplenifolia), a 
common low shrub, growing with Ericaceous plants in northeastern 
United States and Canada, have been used in medicine. The leaves 
contain 0.08 per cent of a volatile oil; 7 to 10 per cent of tannic acid; 
resin and a saponin-like substance. The rhizomes yield 6 per cent 
of tannic acid and 8 per cent of starch. 

The leaves of the Sweet Gale (Myrica Gale) contain 0.03 per cent 
of a volatile oil. The leaves and branches are strongly aromatic and 
have an astringent and bitter taste. 

Literature — Hambright, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1863, p. 193; 
Peacock, Ibid., 1892, p. 303. Beringer, Ibid., 1894, p. 220; Manger, 
Ibid., 1894, p. 211; Krembs and Denniston, Proc. A. Ph. A., 1901, 
p. 414; Youngken, Bot. Lab. U. of Penn. IV, No. 2. 

JUGLANDACE^), OR WALNUT FAMILY 

A small family of six genera, the most important of which are 
Juglans and Carya. They yield useful woods, the barks are used in 
tanning and dyeing and the fruits are edible. The inner morphology 



160 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

is rather distinctive, all of the species contain peltate-glandular hairs 
and some of the genera including Juglans show a septation of the pith 
resembling that which is found in Phytolacca. In the bark of Carya 
there are isolated groups of primary bast fibers and in Juglans there 
is a composite sclerenchymatous ring. The tracheae usually have 
simple pores and the wood parenchyma are rather abundant. The 
stomata are usually restricted to the lower surface of the leaves and 
in the loose mesophyll are cells containing rosette aggregates. Soli- 
tary crystals of calcium oxalate are also occasionally present in some 
of the genera. The non-glandular hairs are either unicellular or of 
the tufted type. 

Carya illinoensis (Wang.), K. Koch, which bears the pecan nut 
found in the Middle and Southwestern States; C. ovata (Mill.) K. 
Koch, a large and handsome tree, known as shell-bark or shag-bark 
hickory and is the chief source of the hickory nuts of the 
market. There are six other common species of Carya which 
are indigenous to the United States and Canada and all yield 
edible fruits. 

Juglans. — Butternut Bark. — The bark of the root of Juglans 
cinerea (Fam. Juglandaceae), a tree growing in rich moist soil in the 
Eastern and Central United States. The roots are collected in the 
autumn, the bark separated and dried. 

Description. — In quills or flattened somewhat channeled pieces, 
of variable length and from 2 to 10 mm. in thickness; both the outer 
and inner surfaces are dark brown, the outer being somewhat scaly; 
fracture short, fibrous, the surface being somewhat checkered; odor 
distinct; taste bitter, pungent and acrid. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 70. 

Powder. — Dark brown; calcium oxalate usually in rosette aggre- 
gates from 0.015 to 0.050 mm. in diameter or in monoclinic prisms 
from 0.010 to 0.025 mm. in length occurring in parenchyma or in 
crystal fibers; bast fibers, 0.030 mm. wide and very long; stone cells, 
from 0.035 to 0.100 mm. in diameter; oily drops and purplish-brown 
tannin masses in parenchyma. Starch grains mostly single, or 2- 
to 4-compound, the individual grains from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. in 
diameter, occasionally with a central cleft. J. cinerea is distinguished 
from J. alba and J. nigra in that both of the latter possess numerous 
crystal fibers containing prismatic or rhombohedral crystals. J. 
nigra has also in the medullary rays rosette aggregates of calcium 
oxalate. J. regia appears more nearly to resemble J. cinerea. 

Constituents. — It contains about 7 per cent of a yellow, crys- 
talline acrid principle which is colored purple with alkalies; 2 to 



JUGLANS 



161 



2.5 per cent of a crystalline resin; volatile oil, tannin, sugar, and a 
fixed oil. 




Fig. 70. — Juglans. A, transverse section showing cork (K) ; parenchyma cells (P) ; 
parenchyma cells rilled with tannin (Tc); rosette aggregates and monclinic 
prisms of calcium oxalate (Ca) ; stone cells (St) ; sieve (L) ; bast fibers (Bf) ; 
starch grains (S); medullary rays (M). B, fragment showing parenchyma 
cells (P), and rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate (Ca). C, tangential 
section showing medullary rays (M), sieve (L). D, bast fiber in longitudinal 
view. E, fragment in longitudinal view showing 4-sided calcium oxalate 
crystals (Ca) in cells forming a crystal fiber (Cf) and adjoining 2 bast fibers. 
F, characteristic stone cells (St). — Drawing by Hogstad. 



Adulterants. — The stem bark of Juglans cinerea is sometimes 
mixed with the drug and is distinguished by the outer surface pos- 
sessing occasional grayish patches of certain lichens. 



162 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Allied Plants.— The bark of the black walnut (Juglans nigra), 
somewhat resembles butternut bark, but is more coarsely striate and 
the fractured surface is more uniformly brown. 

Literature.— Holm, Merck's Rept., 1918, 27, pp. 115 and 168. 

Cortex Fructus Juglandis. — Cortex Nucum Juglandis Viridis, 
English Walnut Shells.— The hulls (outer portion of the pericarp) 
of the fruit of the Persian or English walnut (Juglans regia) have 
been used in medicine in the fresh and green condition. The dried 
hulls have been recently imported under the name of " vegetable 
shells " apparently for the purposes of using them in the ground 
condition as an adulterant. 

The dried hulls, or " shells," consist of pieces or fragments com- 
posed for the most part of the outer layers of the pericarp, i.e., the 
epicarp and sarcocarp. The pieces are more or less irregular, invo- 
luted and shriveled, from 5 to 35 mm. in diameter, and break with a 
short fracture. Some of the pieces are marked by the stem-scar or 
still have attached to them portions of the stem. Externally, the 
epicarp, or outer layer, is rather smooth, though coarsely wrinkled, 
marked by numerous small dots, and varies in color from light to 
dark brown. The sarcocarp, or inner layer, is somewhat spongy, 
dark brown or blackish-brown in color, and more or less fibrous, due 
to the shrinking of the parenchyma from the fibrovascular bundles. 
The taste of the hull is markedly acid and somewhat bitterish, but 
the odor is not very pronounced or characteristic. 

The microscopical characteristics of the powder are illustrated 
in Fig. 71. 

Literature. — Kraemer, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1911, p. 377. 

BETULACE^:, OR BIRCH FAMILY 

A group of 6 genera of moncecious trees or shrubs. They are com- 
mon to both hemispheres. The two genera of greatest importance 
are Betula or birch, and Corylus or hazelnut. The birches are 
extremely hardy and some grow within the Arctic circle. They find 
a great many uses. A volatile oil, closely resembling true oil of win- 
tergreen, is obtained from the twigs and bark of the trunk of the 
sweet or black birch (Betual lenta) , a tree growing in the eastern por- 
tion of the United States. The bark of the white birch serves a 
number of useful purposes, slabs of it being used for the thatching of 
roofs, the outside covering of boxes for window gardens, as well as a 
variety of other purposes. It contains a yellow coloring principle, 
making it serviceable in dyeing, and sufficient tannin to make it 



JUGLANS 



163 




Fig. 71. — Pericarp of fruit of Juglans regia: A, stomata of epicarp; B, cross- 
section of pericarp showing epidermis (e), cells with reddish-brown contents 
(c), sclerotic cells (s), parenchyma (p) containing protoplasm and starch 
grains; C, mestome strand of the sarcocarp showing vessels (v), libriform (0, 
leptome (s), parenchyma containing protoplasm and starch (p); D, non- 
glandular hairs from the apical and basal portions of fruit; E, glandular 
hairs from base of fruit similar to those found in large numbers on the sur- 
face of the butternut (Juglans cinerea); F, rosette aggregates resembling 
the membrane crystals of Rosanoff; G, sclerotic cells found in the powder; 
H, fragment of non-glandular hair; K, starch grains from 0.002 to 0.010 
mm. in diameter: L, tracheae with annular markings* M, calcium oxalate 
crystals. 



164 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

valuable for tanning. The wood varies in color, is firm and tough in 
texture and is used for highly ornamental furniture. The hazlenut 
or filbert is chiefly known for its edible nuts, yet the tree serves many 
other useful purposes. 

The wood of the plants of this family is extremely tough and 
flexible and the branches are used in the making of fishing rods, 
hurdles, crates and, when split, into hoops for casks. The wood like 
that of the birch is used in the manufacture of charcoal. The forked 
twigs of the European hazel were formerly used like those of witch- 
hazel as a divining rod. 

The cork arises in the outermost layers of the bark, forming 
large plates, so that it can be removed in large pieces. The exfoliating 
cork of the birch is also distinguished by the long, linear, transverse 
lenticels. The bark is free from secondary bast fibers and usually 
contains numerous groups of stone cells. In Betula and Alnus the 
tracheae possess bordered pores and scalariform thickenings. A 
mucilaginous epidermis is not of infrequent occurrence in the leaves 
and the stomata usually occur only on the lower surface. The hairs 
are both non-glandular and glandular, and glandular scales occur 
on species of Betula and Alnus. Calcium oxalate occurs in the form 
of rosette aggregates and solitary crystals. 

Betula Lenta. — Cherry, or Sweet Birch. — The bark of the 
trunk and larger branches of Betula lenta, a handsome tree and the 
most conspicuous of American birches, yields a volatile oil known as 
oil of birch. It is obtained from the bark by first macerating the 
pieces with water and then distilling the oil by means of copper stills. 
The oil does not pre-exist in the bark, but is formed from a glucoside, 
gaultherin. The latter forms colorless needles and is soluble in 
alcohol and water. It is very easily decomposed, even being hydro- 
lysed in alcohol of 94 per cent. The bark also contains about 3 per 
cent of tannin. 

Cortex Betula. — Birch Bark. — The bark of the European 
white birch (Betula verrucosa) is used to some extent in medicine. 
The bark of the older branches and trunk is collected, and after 
removing the periderm, is carefully dried. 

It consists of more or less flattened pieces from 0.5 to 2 cm. 
in thickness. The outer surface is orange-yellow, with whitish 
patches and occasional scales of cork; inner surface yellowish-brown, 
smooth and finely wrinkled ; fracture granular and even; odor slight 
and taste bitter. 

The bark is distinguished by not having any bast fibers, these 
being replaced by stone cells which occur in groups forming an inter- 



BEECH FAMILY 165 

rupted circle. The parenchyma associated with the sieve is in part 
lignified; calcium oxalate occurs in monoclinic prisms, rosette 
aggregates and as micro-crystals; medullary rays are from 3 to 5 
cells wide, the walls being very thin and occasionally those near the 
stone, cells are lignified. 

It contains betulin, a camphoraceous, resin-like substance; 3 
per cent of tannic acid which is colored greenish by solutions of ferric 
salts; also gallic acid and a bitter principle. 

Literature. — Zornig, Arzneidrogen. 



FAGACE^, OR BEECH FAMILY 

A family of monoecious trees or shrubs which are of a very wide 
geographic distribution. The three general representatives are 
beech or Fagus, the chestnut or Castanea, and the oak or Quercus. 
The oaks are among the most historic of our trees, and are noted for 
their strength, durability and longevity. While they do not attain 
the height of the Eucalypts or Sequoias, their trunks may be of con- 
siderable circumference (Fig. 72) . Most species do not attain matur- 
ity before fifty or one hundred years, and some have attained an age 
between five hundred and one thousand years. They furnish the 
most important woods of the world, and the bark is used in tanning 
and dyeing and some are used in medicine. The acorns are largely 
used as a food for swine. The chestnuts are chiefly valued on account 
of their edible nuts, although the bark is also used in tanning and 
the leaves have been used in medicine. 

The beeches are among the most beautiful forest trees. Owing 
to the fact that the wood is not affected when immersed in water, 
it is largely used in the construction of dams, water mills, etc. In 
connection with the distillation of the wood of the red beech of 
Europe (Fagus silvatica) and the Southern beech (F. ferruginea) a 
beech-wood creosote is obtained which is largely employed in medi- 
cine for a number of purposes. 

The barks of Quercus and Castanea are distinguished by the pro- 
duction of interrupted circles of groups of bast fibers, each being 
surrounded with crystal fibers. In addition there are numerous 
groups of stone cells. The parenchyma and medullary ray cells are 
filled with tannin. The hairs are unicellular in Fagus and tufted 
as well as peltate in both Castanea and Quercus. The stomata do 
not possess any neighboring cells. Calcium oxalate occurs in the 
form of rosette aggregates and solitary crystals. 



166 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Quercus .— White Oak Bark.— The bark of Quercus alba (Fam. 
Cupulif erae) , a tree indigenous to the eastern and central United 
States and Canada. The bark is collected in spring from the branches 
and trunks of trees from ten to twenty-five years of age, and deprived 
of the periderm and dried. 







•3 d 
> 3 

• s .g 

be 3 

.a a 
|a 

„ OS 

-° 8 

3 OJ 



00 

03 






Description. — In flat, irregular, more or less oblong pieces 5 to 30 
cm. long, 10 to 20 mm. in diameter, 2 to 4 mm. thick; outer surface 
light brown, longitudinally striate, with occasional patches of dark- 
brown periderm; inner surface yellowish-brown, coarsely striate and 
fissured longitudinally, and with detachable bast fibers; fracture 



NUTGALL 167 

uneven, coarsely fibrous, surface porous and dotted with groups of 
white sclerenchymatous cells and fibers; odor slight; taste astringent. 

Inner Structure. — For illustration of microscopic sections, consult 
Kraemer's Applied and Economic Botany, p. 511. 

Powder. — Light brown; bast fibers long, thick-walled, lignified; 
crystal fibers containing rosette aggregates or monoclinic prisms of 
calcium oxalate from 0.010 to 0.025 mm. in diameter: stone cells 
thick-walled, with numerous lamellae and simple pores : parenchyma 
with irregular yellowish-brown tannin masses. 

Constituents. — Tannin about 10 per cent; starch and calcium 
oxalate. The tannin yields upon sublimation a crystalline principle 
resembling pyrocatechin ; upon fusion with potassium hydrate, a 
phenol similar to protocatechuic acid is formed; dilute solutions are 
colored olive-brown with ferric chloride and possess a slight fluores- 
cence; alkalies give a deep red color to the solutions. 

Allied Plants. — Quercus robur, indigenous to Europe, is the source 
of the bark used in England and Continental Europe ; the bark closely 
resembles that of Quercus alba, but the periderm is not removed; it 
contains from 10 to 16 per cent of tannin, besides gallic and ellagic 
acids. Quercus velutina, or black oak, yields the quercitron bark, 
which resembles that of Quercus alba, but is reddish-brown, and 
tinges the saliva yellowish; it contains besides tannin a yellow glu- 
cosidal principle quercitrin, which yields quercetin, a yellow coloring 
principle. 

Literature. — Kraemer, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1890, p. 236. 

Galla. — Nutgall. — An abnormal development on the young 
twigs of Quercus infectoria (Fam. Cupuliferse) due to the puncture 
and presence of the deposited ova of a Hymenopterous insect, Cynips 
tinctoria. The galls are collected before the maturing of the insect, 
and are obtained principally from Aleppo, in Asiatic Turkey. 

There are three stages in the development of galls corresponding 
to the development of the insect and during which the composition 
varies: (1) When the galls are first formed and the larva is beginning 
to develop, the cells of the outer zone, as well as those of the central 
zone, contain numerous small starch grains. (2) When the insect 
reaches the chrysalis stage, the starch in the cells near the middle 
of the galls is replaced in part by gallic acid, while the cells at the 
center and near the periphery contain masses of tannic acid. (3) 
When the winged insect is developed nearly all of the cells contain 
amorphous masses of tannic acid with some adhering crystals of gallic 
acid. After the insect has emerged from the gall the constituents 
again undergo a change, depending largely on the presence of moisture, 



168 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

when the tannic acid is changed into an insoluble oxidation product 
and the gall becomes more porous, constituting the so-called white gall 
of commerce (Kraemer, Bot. Gaz., 1900, p. 275). 

Aleppo Galls. — Somewhat spheroidal, 1 to 2 cm. in diameter; 
externally grayish-brown or dark grayish-green, more or less tuber- 
culate above, the basal portion nearly smooth, and contracted into 
a short stalk, sometimes with a perforation on one side; heavy; 
fracture horny; internally yellowish or dark brown, consisting of a 
central portion which contains starch, and occasionally the partly 
developed insect, and an outer zone which is porous, lustrous and 
occasionally traversed by a radial canal, these two zones being 
separated by a layer of nearly isodiametric stone cells or parenchyma 
cells with thick cellulose walls; odor slight; taste strongly astringent. 

Powder. — Yellowish-brown; starch grains numerous, more or 
less free in the powder and varying in shape from spheroidal or 
ellipsoidal to polygonal, and from 0.005 to 0.030 mm. in diameter; 
numerous fragments of thick-walled, starch-bearing parenchyma; 
stone cells few, resembling those found in fruits and seeds, vary- 
ing considerably in shape and size, from 0.025 to 0.300 mm. in length; 
occasional fragments with spiral or reticulate tracheae; fragments 
mounted in very dilute ferric chloride solution should become of a 
deep blue or greenish-blue color. 

A rough method of obtaining an idea of the value of powdered 
nutgalls is as follows: Macerate 0.5 gm. of powdered nutgall with 
2 c.c. of alcohol for a few minutes, add 500 c.c. of water, stir the 
mixture well for five minutes and filter. On adding a drop of ferric 
chloride solution to 1 c.c. of this filtrate, diluted with 10 c.c. of dis- 
tilled water, a distinct blue or violet-blue color should develop. 

Constituents. — The principal constituent is tannic acid, which is 
found to the extent of 50 to 70 per cent; the drug also contains gallic 
acid 2 to 4 per cent, starch and resin. 

Tannic Acid (gallotannic acid or digallic acid) is a yellowish-white 
amorphous substance, with a characteristic odor and astringent taste. 
It is soluble in cold water and alcohol; forms amorphous salts; gives 
a blue color and precipitate with ferric chloride; forms a soluble 
compound with iodin and prevents the latter from giving the char- 
acteristic reaction with starch. 

Two classes of tannic acid are recognized, depending on their 
behavior with iron salts and other reagents: (1) Tannic acid, giving 
a bluish color with ferric chloride, as that of Aleppo galls, and also 
found in chestnut (Castanea), pomegranate (Punica) and sumac 
(Rhus) ; (2) tannic acid, giving a greenish color with ferric chloride, 



GALLS 169 

as that contained in oak barks (Quercus), catechu (Acacia), kino 
(Pterocarpus), rhatany (Krameria), canaigre (Rumex), tormentilla 
(Potentilla) and mangrove (Rhizophora) . 

For a full discussion of the nature of tannin, its chemical proper- 
ties and distribution in plants, consult Kraemer's Applied and Eco- 
nomic Botany, pp. 202-210. 

Gallic Acid crystallizes in silky needles or prisms which are 
inodorous and possess a faintly astringent taste. It is sparingly 
soluble in cold water, but soluble in alcohol; forms crystalline com- 
pounds with the alkalies, alkaline earths, lead and copper salts; and 
gives a bluish-black precipitate with ferric chloride, which is soluble 
in acetic acid and loses its color on boiling. 

Allied Plants. — On a number of species of Rhus, galls due to the 
stings of certain plant lice (Aphis) are formed, as Chinese galls, formed 
on Rhus semialata; Japanese galls, formed on R. japonica, and Amer- 
ican Rhus galls, formed on Rhus glabra and R. hirta. Chinese and 
Japanese galls are very rich in tannin, and as they contain less color- 
ing matter than the oak galls are used in the manufacture of gallic 
acid. They are more or less irregular in shape, but somewhat ovoid, 
more or less tuberculate, grayish-brown, very hairy, light in weight, 
brittle. The wall is about 1 mm. thick, and the cavity contains the 
remains of numerous insects in the form of a grayish powder. 

The powder of Japanese or Chinese galls is grayish-green and 
contains numerous non-glandular hairs; starch grains from 0.015 
to 0.040 mm. in diameter; rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate, 
from 0.015 to 0.25 mm. in diameter; occasional fragments of trachese 
and laticiferous cells. Mounts in glycerin may show separation of 
acicular crystals. 

American nutgalls are formed on Quercus coccinea and Q. imbri- 
caria by Cynips aciculata. When fresh they are globular, 1.5 to 3 
cm. in diameter, and of a yellowish, somewhat mottled color. On 
drying they become yellowish or dark brown and much shriveled 
externally. Texas nutgalls are formed on the live oak (Quercus 
virens) and yield 40 per cent of tannic acid. California oak balls 
are excrescences on Quercus lobata and are about 5 cm. in diameter, 
and said to contain considerable tannic acid. 

Other tannin-yielding plants are found in the following families: 
Combretaceae, Leguminosse, Myrtacese. 

Castanea. — Chestnut Leaves. — The leaves of Castanea den- 
tata (Fam. Fagacese), one of the most useful and beautiful trees of 
the forests of eastern North America. The leaves are usually gath- 
ered in the early fall and carefully dried. It is very probable, how- 



170 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

ever, that the leaves at the time of the flowering of the tree or shortly 
afterward will be found more active. 

Description. — Oblong-lanceolate, from 10 to 20 cm. in length 
and 4 to 6 cm. in breadth; summit acute and long-pointed; base 
acute or wedge-shaped; margin coarsely serrate with ascending 
mucronate teeth; upper or ventral surface dark yellowish-green, 
puberulous, midrib and veins of the first order prominent, the latter 
diverging at an angle of 50° to 60°, and extending into the teeth; 
lower or dorsal surface pale j^ello wish-green, with a fine cobweb-like 
tomentum; petiole 15 to 20 mm. in length, slightly angled and with 
a swollen base, yellowish or sometimes tinged with red; texture cori- 
aceous, fibrous; odor slight astringent. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 73. 

Powder. — Olive-green or grayish-brown; non-glandular hairs 
either single or peltate from 0.060 to 0.200 mm. in length, nearly 
smooth and very thick-walled ; calcium oxalate occurs in the petioles 
in the form of rosette aggregates from 0.010 to 0.040 mm. in diameter; 
tannin-containing parenchyma cells colored bluish-green with solu- 
tions of the ferric salts; tracheae, mostly close annular. Stem frag- 
ments show long bast fibers with adjoining crystal fibers, the cells 
of the latter each containing a monoclinic prism of calcium oxalate 
from 0.010 to 0.025 mm. in length; and also groups of small stone 
cells. 

Constituents. — Tannic acid, 9 per cent, colored green with ferric 
salts and not precipitated with a solution of tartar-emetic. The 
drug also contains a mucilage which is insoluble in alcohol; and ash 
45 per cent. 

Allied Plants. — An extract used in the tanning of sole leather is 
made from chestnut wood. The seeds of the chestnut tree are 
edible and fresh chestnuts contain on an average 42 per cent of 
starch and other carbohydrates; 6 per cent of protein; 5.5 per cent 
of fixed oil; 1.3 per cent of ash; the remainder being water. The 
testa is said to contain a bitter principle. 

The seeds of the Chinquapin (Castanea pumila), a low-growing 
shrub of the southern United States, resemble those of C. vesca, 
but are smaller. They contain 45 per cent of starch; 8 per cent of 
ash, and 2.5 per cent of protein. (Kraemer, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 
1895, p. 453.) 

URTICACE^, OR NETTLE FAMILY 

The plants are largely tropical, and include herbs, shrubs and 
trees. There are about 1500 species, and as there are some funda- 



CHESTNUT 



171 



mental differences in their morphology they have been divided 
into three families, viz.: 1, The Ulmaceae, or Elm Family; 2, the 




Fig. 73. — Castanea. A, transverse section of leaf through the midrib showing 
upper epidermis (Ue); palisade layers (Ps); loose mesophyll {Ms); bast 
fibers (Bf); sieve (L); tracheae (T); parenchyma (P); non-glandular hairs 
(H) ; rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate (Ca) ; stoma (Sa) ; lower epidermis 
(Le). B, stellate hair. C, fragment of leaf showing 2 stomata. D, frag- 
ments of powdered drug showing crystal fiber (C/); bast fiber (Bf); stone 
cells (St) ; parenchyma (P) containing calcium oxalate (Ca) ; non-glandular 
hair (H). — Drawing by Haase. 



Moraceae, or Mulberry Family, and 3, the Urticacese, or Nettle 
Family proper. By some authors the plants of the genera Cannabis 
and Humulus are separated and brought under a fourth group, 



172 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Cannabineae. The Urticaceae have a number of distinctive ana- 
tomical features. Cystoliths or cystolith-like structures are very 
general; the cell walls are not infrequently silicified or calcified; the 
bast fibers are of considerable length; calcium oxalate occurs in the 
form of rosette aggregates or solitary crystals; and both glandular 
and non-glandular hairs may be present. 



ULMACE.E, OR ELM FAMILY 

They consist mostly of shrubs and trees growing in the tropics 
and in temperate regions. In addition to the general anatomical 
features already mentioned, under the Urticaceae, many of the plants 
of this family have distinct mucilage cells, as in Ulmus, in which 
they are very prominent. In the latter they are in the form of short 
cylindrical cells and very regularly arranged in the bark, giving 
the transverse section a checkered appearance. 

Ulmus. — Slippery-Elm Bark. — The bark of Ulmus fulva (Fam. 
Ulmaceae), a tree indigenous to the eastern and central United 
States and Canada. The bark is collected in spring, deprived of the 
periderm and dried, the commercial article coming chiefly from 
Michigan. 

Description. — In flat oblong pieces about 30 cm. long, 10 to 15 cm. 
in diameter, 3 to 4 mm. thick; outer surface light brown, longitu- 
dinally wrinkled and furrowed and with occasional dark-brown 
patches of periderm ; inner surface yellowish or light brown, more or 
less uniformly wrinkled longitudinally; fracture fibrous, surface 
light brown, porous from large mucilage cells; odor slight, distinct; 
taste mucilaginous. 

Inner Structure. — Bast fibers in small groups forming an inter- 
rupted circle separated by the 4- to 6-celled medullary rays; leptome 
in alternating interrupted circles, each band or plate having a large 
mucilage cell. Parenchyma (occasionally reticulately thickened), 
and cells of the medullary rays frequently contain very small starch 
grains. The bast fibers are usually surrounded by a nearly closed 
ring of crystal fibers, each of the cells containing a monoclinic prism 
of calcium oxalate. 

Powder. — Very light brown; bast fibers numerous, very long, 
about 0.020 mm. in diameter, with rather thin, slightly lignified 
walls; calcium oxalate in monclinic prisms, mostly in crystal-fibers, 
the individual crystals from 0.010 to 0.025 mm. in diameter; frag- 
ments of large mucilage cells with adhering starch grains; the latter 



CANNABIS 173 

mostly spheroidal or more or less polygonal, usually about 0.003 mm. 
in diameter, but also attaining a diameter of 0.025 mm. 

Ground elm bark has been reported to be adulterated with wheat 
starch or wheat middlings, but this does not seem to be the case. 
The small quantity of wheat starch which is sometimes detected is 
considered to be in the nature of an accidental contamination. The 
usual adulterant is a bark from which the mucilage has been extracted 
or at least barks poor in mucilage are sometimes found on the market. 
Good elm bark gives a rather thick mucilage on digesting one part 
of the ground bark in 40 to 45 parts of cold water. 

An odor, resembling that of Ulmus, occurs in fenugreek, and in 
wheat middlings which have been kept in more or less closed contain- 
ers for some time. 

Constituents. — The principal constituent is mucilage; it also 
contains starch and calcium oxalate. 

Allied Plants. — Ulmus campestris, or European elm, yields a 
bark which is dark brown, and contains, besides mucilage, a bitter 
principle and tannin. 

MORACE.E, OR MULBERRY FAMILY 

They are herbs, shrubs or trees, and distinguished for the most 
part in having laticiferous cells, which occur in both the axis and 
leaves of the mature plant. The laticiferous tubes in the pith often 
extend through the medullary rays, uniting with those in the cortex. 
In the leaves of some species of Ficus the laticiferous tubes are 
found associated with vascular bundles only, while in other species, 
as the common rubber plant in cultivation (Ficus elastica) the tubes 
send out branches which traverse the mesophyll tissue. The latex 
of certain plants of this family contain very large granules, the 
nature of which has not been determined, as in the black mul- 
berry (Moms nigra), the fig (Ficus Carica), the common rubber 
plant (Ficus elastica) and the osage orange (Madura pomifera). 
Upon making a microscopic mount of the latex of the leaves of the 
common cultivated rubber plant, it is seen to consist of numerous 
globules and very soon shows a separation of sphserite aggregates of 
crystals. See Kraemer's "Applied and Economic Botany," p. 240. 

Cannabis Indica. — East Indian Femp. — The flowering tops 
of the pistillate plants of Cannabis sativa, or the variety indica 
(Fam. Moracese), an annual herb indigenous to Central and Western 
Asia, and cultivated in India and other tropical countries and also in 
temperate regions for the fiber and seed. The drug, however, is 



174 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

obtained from plants cultivated in tropical India. The flowering 
tops are made into more or less compressed masses, forming what is 
known as " ganja " or " guaza." The best grade of ganja is obtained 
from unfertilized plants grown in India and shipped via Calcutta and 
Bengal. The leaves may be collected and dried separately and 
constitute what is known as " bhang." The resin which sepa- 
rates from ganja and bhang, or that which is collected from the 
growing plant, constitutes the product known as " charas." The 
article ordinarily imported into this country is grown on the farms 
near Calcutta, the pistillate plants only being allowed to develop, 
and these are pruned in such a way as to encourage the production 
of flowering branches and an increase of resin. Fruiting spikes 
with mature seeds should be removed. 

Description. — Usually in compressed masses 5 to 14 cm. long. 
Stem cylindrical, about 3 mm. in diameter, longitudinally furrowed 
and wrinkled, light green, pubescent, internodes 2 to 20 mm. long. 
Leaf digitately compound, with three to seven linear-lanceolate, 
nearly sessile leaflets, summit of leaflets acuminate, base acute or 
cuneate, margin deeply serrate; upper and under surfaces dark green, 
pubescent, glandular, veins of the first order diverging at an angle 
of 65° and terminating in the teeth; petiole 1 to 5 cm. long. Inflor- 
escence in sessile spikes, each flower subtended by an ovate, pubes- 
cent bract; calyx entire, ovate or oblong-acuminate, about 4 mm. 
long, dark green, pubsecent, split longitudinally on one side, some- 
what enlarged at the base and folded around the ovary; styles two, 
about 8 mm. long, filiform, pubescent, ovary oblong, about 1 mm. 
long, with a single campylotropous ovule. Odor distinct. Taste 
slightly acrid. 

Inner Structure. — Both the upper and the lower surfaces of the 
leaves possess numerous, more or less bent, 1-celled non-glandular 
hairs which contain a spheroidal cystolith. Glandular hairs are 
also present on the leaves, and these possess usually a 1-celled stalk 
and a 2- to 16-celled glandular summit or head. Calcium oxalate 
occurs in the form of small rosette aggregates. 

Powder. — (Fig. 74.) Dark green; non-glandular hairs, 1-celled, 
more or less curved, with numerous slight projections, and some- 
times with cystoliths of calcium carbonate; glandular hairs two 
kinds — either with short unicellular or multicellular stalks — and 
8- to 16-celled glandular heads; calcium oxalate, in rosette aggre- 
gates from 0.005 to 0.025 mm. in diameter; numerous oil globules 
and resin fragments; few nearly spheroidal pollen grains 0.025 to 
0.035 mm. in diameter, with numerous centrifugal projections. 



CANNABIS 



175 



among club-shaped unicellular hairs of style; tracheae spiral or with 
simple or bordered pores; sclerenchymatous fibers long, thin-walled, 
non-lignified, and with few simple pores; laticiferous vessels with 
reddish-brown contents. When mature seeds are present, palisade- 
like stone cells occur, which are very thick-walled, and have a small 
lumen. 

The drug is said to lose its activity when in the powdered condi- 
tion. The same statement is true in regard to the powdered extract. 




Fig. 74. — Cannabis indica: Cy, non-glandular hairs containing calcium carbonate 
in the form of cystolith; G, multicellular glandular hairs of the bracts; Gs, 
hairs of the bracts; Gs, multicellular heads of glandular hairs; S, papillae of 
stigma; B, tracheae with bored pores, present in stem fragments; T, tracheae 
with annular markings; P, pollen grains; Ca, rosette aggregates of calcium 
oxalate; N, thick-walled non- glandular hair with numerous papillae on the 
surface. 



Constituents. — From 15 to 20 per cent of a resin (called cannabin), 
consisting of a number of substances, one of which, cannabinol (can- 
nabindon), occurs as a red, oily substance and is said to possess the 
intoxicating properties of the drug. The drug also contains 0.3 
per cent of a yellowish volatile oil, which consists chiefly of a ses- 
quiterpene, cannibene and a stearoptene. A similar sesquiterpene 



176 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

is present in the staminate plant of Cannabis gigantea. The non- 
flowering herb yields about 1 per cent of a narcotic volatile oil which 
has an odor that is not unpleasant. The volatile alkaloid cannabinene 
is supposed to be trimethylamine. 

Cannabis Americana. — American Cannabis. The flowering 
and fruiting tops of the pistillate plants of Cannabis sativa (Fam. 
Moraceae) grown in the United States. This drug was at one time 
official, but owing to the fact that the Indian Government has 
placed an export duty upon the East Indian hemp, American man- 
ufacturers have renewed their interest in the possibilities of obtain- 
ing American supplies. Experiments have been made in growing 
the American Cannabis in various parts of the United States, and 
while the reports at first showed that the drug only contained from 
50 to 85 per cent of the activity of the Indian drug, yet later reports 
have been more encouraging. 

Description. — Varying from light green to greenish-brown and 
consisting of the stems, foliage leaves, flowers and more or less 
mature fruits; stems cylindrical, of variable length, and not more 
than 2.5 mm. in thickness; longitudinally furrowed, light green to 
light brown, strigose-pubescent ; leaves digitately-compound ; leaf- 
lets linear-lanceolate, nearly sessile, margin deeply serrate, other- 
wise as in Indian Cannabis. 

Powder. — Dark green to greenish-brown, resembling Indian 
Cannabis, but with a larger proportion of tissues of the stem and 
leaves. 

Allied Plants. — Owing to the high price of East Indian Cannabis, 
for reasons already stated, the drug has been imported to some 
extent from other countries. An African Cannabis has been imported 
which, while not of as good appearance as the East Indian drug, 
yielded 14.06 per cent of a resin having full therapeutic activity. 
A Turkish Cannabis has been imported which yielded 9 per cent of 
resin, having the average therapeutic activity of the standard drug 
When it is recalled that there is shipped from India very large quan- 
tities of an inferior grade of Cannabis tops at a very much lower 
price, and upon which there is placed a very low rate of export duty 
or it comes in duty free, then it would seem that manufacturers were 
justified in encouraging the importation of the Cannabis grown 
in other countries than India. No harm can arise from the use 
of these different varieties, as reliable manufacturers market prep- 
arations on the basis of their physiological activity and are not 
likely to use inferior drugs, because it is far more expensive and unsat- 
isfactory. The only logical limitation of source in the Pharma- 



HOPS , 177 

copceia would be one which includes situations in which a potent 
drug could be grown and excludes those in which Cannabis is known 
to be deficient in activity. Physiologically active Cannabis also 
comes from Turkestan, Asia Minor, France, Italy, Spain, Mexico 
and from the warmer and more arid regions in the United States. 

The alkaloids harmine and harmaline are found in the seeds 
of Peganum Harmala (Fam. Zygophyllacese) of India, and have 
narcotic properties similar to Cannabis indica. 

Literature. — Hamilton, Jour. A. Ph. A., 1915, 4, p. 448; Ballard, 
Ibid., 1299; Sayre, Ibid., 1303. 

Humulus. — Hops. — The fruit of Humulus Lupulus (Fam. 
Moracese), a perennial herbaceous climber, indigenous to Europe, 
Asia and North America, and extensively cultivated in England, 
Germany and various parts of the United States, South America and 
Australia, where it is also naturalized. Hops are collected in Sep- 
tember, when they are ripe, carefully dried by means of artificial 
heat, and packed into bales or sent loose into commerce. They 
are sometimes treated with sulphur dioxide to improve the color 
and to prevent change of the active principles. The development 
of the odor of valerianic acid is said to be prevented by sprinkling 
the hops with a small quantity of alcohol before packing them. 
Hops lose their active properties on keeping. 

Description. — Cone-like, flattened, oblong or ovoid, 2 to 3 cm. 
long, 1.5 to 2 cm. wide, about 7 mm. thick, consisting of a sharp- 
undulate rachis and about 50 membranous bracts, the latter dis- 
tinctly veined, light green or brownish-green, glandular-hairy, 
entire, 10 to 14 mm. long, 7 to 11 mm. broad, with acute summit 
and rounded base, frequently infolded on one side and enclosing 
a sub-globular, light-brown, very glandular achene; the seed with 
two flat, spirally coiled cotyledons and without a reserve layer; 
odor aromatic ; taste bitter. 

Powder. — Light green; calcium oxalate in rosette aggregates, 
0.010 to 0.015 mm. in diameter; non-glandular hairs unicellular, 
more or less bent, thin-walled, 0.2 to 0.3 mm. long; glandular hairs 
of two kinds (Fig. 75) , either with a 3-celled stalk and a nearly color- 
less, multicellular, glandular head 0.050 mm. in diameter, or with 
a short 4-celled stalk and a multicellular, bright yellow, glandular 
head 0.1 to 0.3 mm. in diameter. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil about 0.7 per cent, of which 60 to 
70 per cent is humulene; a crystalline, bitter principle, lupamaric 
acid; tannin 4 to 5 per cent; resin 10 to 18 per cent; asparagin, 
about 1 per cent; trimethylamine; choline or lupuline; malic and 



178 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



citric acids, chiefly in the form of salts; calcium oxalate, and ash 
about 10 per cent. 

The aroma of hops, which is an important factor in judging 
them, is due to a volatile oil. Several factors influence the com- 
position of the oil and also the aroma, viz., climate, soil, etc. 

The volatile oil of hops has been shown to consist chiefly of the 
terpene myrcene, the heptoic, octoic, and nonoic acid esters of the 
alcohol myrcenol, and the sesquiterpene humulene, with traces of 
free acids, formaldehyde, and probably some free alcohols. The 
constituents of chief importance as regards odor are the above-named 
esters, which constitute a large portion of the oil. 

The several oils examined by Rabak (Journal of Agricultural 
Research, Vol. II, No. 2) have been found to contain varying pro- 






QOIOO QDIQQ 

i 









. i : ;:i?'"7 l !!?n , <.V ., 






Q oSdq ocifio 

t DE3QffiD 



ODD 






Fig. 75. — Lupulin: a — h, successive stages in the development of the glandular 
hairs on the bracts and floral envelopes of Humulus; g, longitudinal section 
through a mature hair as seen at A; i, glandular hair with the cuticle raised 
due to the accumulation and pressure of the oily secretion beneath it. — 
After Holzner. 



portions of the esters, as well as the terpene myrcene and the ses- 
quiterpene humulene, the variable content of esters being most 
significant. The curves of the ester content of the various oils and 
fractions of the oils show at a glance the remarkable differences in 
the oils from the several geographical sources. The courses fol- 
lowed by the imported oils are most conspicuous because of their 
constantly lower ester content. More remarkable is the fact that 
the ester content of the imported oils remains lower from year to 
year, practically every sample under observation possessing an 
exceedingly row ester value. The oils from the California hops are 
both physically and chemically very similar from season to season. 



LUPULIN 179 

Those from the various sections of California show no important 
differences in their properties during any particular season, the curves 
showing considerable parallelism. The Oregon and Washington 
oils are very similar in their properties, but differ somewhat from 
the California oils. The New York oils seem to be the most closely 
related to the foreign oils in all properties, with the exception of the 
ester content, which is considerably higher. From the standpoint 
of the increasing ester content the various oils arrange themselves 
in the following order : Imported, California, Washington, New York 
and Oregon, the three latter being very closely related. 

Lupulinum. — Lupulin. — A powder separated from hops (see 
Humulus), and consisting chiefly of the glandular hairs. Lupulin 
may be systematically separated from the hops, or it may be obtained 
as a by-product during the handling of the hops. Commercial 
lupulin consists for the most part of sweepings collected where 
hops are prepared for the market, the extraneous matter being 
removed by sifting and washing. The powder is then carefully 
dried and preserved. 

Description. — Granular, yellowish- or reddish-brown, consisting 
of glandular hairs with a somewhat globular or ellipsoidal, bright- 
yellow, multicellular head 0.1 to 0.3 mm. in diameter (Fig. 75); 
odor aromatic; taste aromatic and bitter. 

Not less than 60 per cent of lupulin should be soluble in ether, and 
the ash should not be more than 10 per cent. 

In fresh lupulin there are more light yellow glandular hairs than 
in old. In the latter there are yellowish- or grayish-brown resinous 
masses replacing the light yellow oil. The amount of Humulus 
fragments should not be too large in lupulin of good quality. 

Constituents. — A volatile oil, identical with that of hops, about 
3 per cent; a crystalline bitter principle, lupamaric acid (hop bitter), 
which becomes yellow on exposure to air and on hydrolysis yields 
lupuliretin and a crystalline substance lupulic acid; a tasteless resin; 
myricin; valerianic acid, which together with the oil is obtained on 
the distillation of lupulin with water; and ash from 3 to 5 per cent. 

The volatile oil of hops or lupulin is sparingly soluble in alcohol 
and is not converted into valerianic acid by means of oxidizing 
agents. This acid is, however, produced upon treating the extract 
of hops with potassium permanganate. 

Ficus. — Fig. — The fruit of Ficus Carica (Fam. Moracese), 
a tree indigenous to Persia and cultivated in most sub-tropical and 
tropical countries. The fruit is collected when ripe, partially dried 
in the sun, and tightly packed in boxes. 



180 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Description. — Syconium pyriform or obovoid, usually compressed, 
about 6 cm. long and 1.5 cm. in diameter; externally light brown, 
longitudinally veined, wrinkled, frequently with an efflorescence of 
grape sugar, summit with a small scaly orifice, base with a scar or 
stalk about 7 mm. long and 4 mm. thick, and also with a leaf-rem- 
nant; torus hollow, the walls 2 to 3 mm. thick, coriaceous, tough, 
the inner portion with numerous lanceolate divisions, upon which 
are borne numerous ovoid, brownish-yellow, glossy achenes about 1 
mm. in diameter, the latter with a reserve layer and a curved embryo; 
odor distinct, fruit-like; taste sweet. 

Constituents. — Grape sugar 50 to 60 per cent; about 1.5 per cent 
of fat in the form of oily globules found in the milk-vessels; starch 
in the form of spheroidal grains; water about 30 per cent in the par- 
tially dried fruit. 

Allied Plants. — Other species of Ficus also yield edible figs, as 
the mulberry fig tree (F. Sycomorus), of Africa; F. religiosa, of 
India; F. glomerata, of Burmah; the false banyan tree, G. benga- 
lensis, of tropical Africa and India, and F. Rumphii, of Asia. 

A peptonizing ferment is obtained from the milk-juice of Ficus 
Carica, F. Sycomorus, of Africa, and F. exima, of Brazil. 

When figs are dried, roasted and ground, they form a coffee 
substitute known as Fig Coffee, which is also used sometimes as 
an adulterant of coffee. It is detected by the large, thin-walled 
and broad non-glandular hairs of the outer epidermis; the broad 
latex-tubes, 0.030 to 0.050 mm. in width, and the small achenes. 
The latter somewhat resemble the achenes of strawberry fruits, but 
are distinguished by the reticulated thickening of the outer cell- 
wall. 

Urtica. — Stinging Nettle. — The flowering plant of Urtica 
urens and Urtica dioica (Fam. Urticaceae). The plants are rather 
common in waste places of Europe and the United States, the former 
being known as the " small nettle " and the latter as -the " stinging 
or great nettle." Urtica urens is an annual herb, while Urtica dioica 
is a perennial herb. The leaves and flowering tops are gathered 
in the late summer and carefully dried. 

Description. — Urtica urens has a rather stout, stinging bristly 
stem; the leaves are thin, elliptical or ovate and with slender petioles; 
the summit and base are obtuse, and the margin is very coarsely and 
deeply serrate, the teeth being ascending or spreading; both sur- 
faces are light green and more or less glabrous; the flowers are small, 
green and in axillary clusters. 

Urtica dioica has much thicker stems, which are densely covered 



SANDAL WOOD 181 

with stinging hairs; the leaves are ovate with long petioles, the 
summit being acute or acuminate; the base cordate; the margin 
very deeply serrate with triangular or lanceolate teeth; the lower 
surface is pubescent, as is also the upper part of the stem. The 
flowers are dioecious or androgynous and occur in much branched 
spikes. 

The presence of stinging hairs was long known, being referred to 
by Pliny. Their structure was examined in detail by Haberlandt. 
They are unicellular, rather long and conical, the summit bearing a 
small spheroidal or ovoid head, which is obliquely inserted, and readily 
breaks off, thus leading to the emission of the contents of the stinging 
hair. The hair is frequently seated on a multicellular pedestal, which 
surrounds its base like a cup, and is partly formed by the periblem. 
The nature of the wall of the stinging hairs is peculiar. The head and 
the neighboring portions of the wall of the hair are silicified; in the 
latter the amount of silicification gradually decreases toward the 
base of the hair, and finally is entirely replaced by the calcification. 
It is the unequal thickening of the walls of the head that causes the 
characteristic line of fracture and the emission of the cell sap on 
slight pressure. 

Constituents. — It was formally stated that the stinging action 
is due to the presence of formic acid. In the light of later research 
this seems doubtful and the activity is now ascribed to a ferment. 
The plant contains a glucoside, tannic acid, mucilage, a coloring 
principle and possibly also an alkaloid. 



SANTALACE^, OR SANDALWOOD FAMILY 

Mostly shrubs or trees that are indigenous to the tropics. A 
few are found growing in the United States, as the Oil-nut or Buf- 
falo-nut (Pyrularia pubera), the fleshy fruit of which is edible and 
the seeds contain an acrid fixed oil. Others are parasitic on the 
roots of other plants. The following anatomical features of this 
family may be mentioned: The wood is of uniform structure and 
consists of tracheae having simple and bordered pores, and tracheid- 
like wood fibers, i.e., with bordered pores. In the pericycle of the 
bark occur isolated bundles of primary bast fibers, a ring of scleren- 
chyma being rarely developed in the secondary phloem. In the 
leaves are found groups of silicified cells and calcium oxalate occurs 
in the form of rosette aggregates or solitary crystals. The hairs 
when present are non-glandular and unicellular. 



182 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Lignum Santali. — Santalum Album or Sandal Wood. — 

The wood of Santalum album (Fam. Santalacese), a parasitic tree 
indigenous to India. It attains a height of 10 M. and produces a 
dense evergreen foliage. It is extensively cultivated in southeastern 
Asia and the Sandal Wood Islands of the Indian Archipelago. Tho 
trees, when twenty to forty years of age, are cut down, the bark 
removed and the wood cut into billets. It is then sorted and sent 
through Bombay to China, Europe and the United States. There 
are some eighteen different commercial varieties which are recognized. 
The most select wood being used in India for the distillation of the 
oil, the wood of the stems and twigs only being exported. 

Description. — In billets or logs from 10 to 35 cm. in length and 
5 to 12 cm. in diameter (Fig. 76); outer surface light yellowish- 
brown, smooth, and marked by more or less flattened areas due to 
the barking process; inner surface distinctly radiate and with 
numerous concentric rings; hard and heavy; odor agreeably aro- 
matic and markedly persistent; taste strongly aromatic. 

The tracheae are large, having bordered pores and contain in 
the lumina yellowish-brown or reddish-brown globular or more or 
less irregular amorphous masses. The wood fibers are strongly 
lignified and possess thick porous walls and contain in the lumina 
spheroidal starch grains from 0.006 to 0.015 mm. in diameter. The 
medullary rays are in short longitudinal rows and from 1 to 2 cells 
wide, the walls being very thick and porous. 

Constituents. — A volatile oil, the amount depending upon the 
altitude at which the trees grow, those growing at a higher altitude 
yielding ten times as much oil as those growing in the lower situa- 
tions. The oil obtained from the heartwood is superior to that 
obtained from the sap wood and that obtained from trees which 
have been slow in developing is best of all. The methods of dis- 
tillation in India are rather crude and they do not secure the yield 
that is obtained by distillers in Europe and United States. The 
yield of oil from the imported Indian wood is from 3 to 5 per cent. 

Oil of Sandalwood is a rather viscid, nearly colorless or light- 
yellowish liquid of a peculiar, but persistent odor. It contains 
from 80 to 98 per cent of santalol; 6 per cent of a sesquiterpene 
(santalen) ; 3 per cent of an aldehyde (santalal) ; a ketone (santalon) ; 
santalic acid, teresantalic acid, formic acid and acetic acid in the 
form of esters amounting to 3 per cent; and about 0.3 per cent of a 
strongly odorous constituent. 

Allied Plants. — West Indian Sandalwood oil is obtained from 
Amyris balsamifera (Fam. Rutacese). West Australian Sandalwood 



SANDAL WOOD 



183 



oil is obtained from one or more species of Santalum and is exported 
from Fremantle, West Australia, being used in India and China as 




a substitute for the genuine oil, although it has very different piop- 
erties. South Australian Sandalwood oil is derived from Santalum 
Preissianum and has a cherry-red color, with an odor similar to that 



184 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

of roses. East African Sandalwood oil is obtained from Osyris 
tenuifolia and yields an oil having an odor resembling that of West 
Indian Sandalwood oil. 

Literature. — Zornig, Arzneidrogen. 

ARISTOLOCHIACE.E, OR BIRTHWORT FAMILY 

Herbs or mostly twining woody plants with reniform or cordate, 
palmi-nerved leaves. There are about 200 species, mostly repre- 
sented in tropical and sub-tropical countries. The family is espe- 
cially characterized by the presence of secretory cells having a vola- 
tile oil. These occur not only in the epidermal cells of the leaf, but 
in all other parts of the plants. The secretory cells are from 0.012 
to 0.075 mm. in diameter, the walls are usually suberized, and the 
oil occurs in the lumina, usually in colorless or yellowish globules. 
The oil is not of uniform composition, the cells of Aristolochia Lin- 
deniana Plagiophylla being colored an indigo blue with aqueous 
solutions containing chlorin, which is apparently due to the con- 
version of a mother substance into indigo. Tannin-containing 
cells are also present in certain of the Aristolochias. Calcium oxalate 
generally occurs in the form of small prismatic or clustered crystals. 
Cells with silicified walls are found in the upper epidermis of the 
leaf and the palisade tissue. A non-glandular hair, the terminal cell 
of which is curved like a hook, is rather characteristic in Aristolochia 
(Fig. 79) and other genera. 

Asarum. — Canada Snake Root or Wild Ginger. — The rhizome 
of Asarum canadense (Fam. Aristolochiacese) , a common acquies- 
cent, perennial herb growing in rich woods of northern and central 
United States. The rhizome is gathered in the spring, deprived 
of the roots and carefully cleaned and then dried. 

Description. — Horizontal, more or less branched, quadrangular, 
curved or twisted; from 3 to 10 cm. in length and 2 to 4 mm. in thick- 
ness; externally light and dark brown with prominent nodes, on 
the upper side of which occur the irregular scars of the ascending 
branches, otherwise longitudinally wrinkled and marked by circular 
scars on the scaly leaves; fracture short, the fractured surface 
resinous and marked by a small circle of yellowish fibrovascular 
bundles; odor aromatic; taste pungent and bitter. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 77. 

Powder. — Light yellowish-brown; starch grains numerous, single 
or 2- to 5-compound, the individual grains irregularly spheroidal, 
from 0.003 to 0.020 mm. in diameter, frequently marked by a central 



ASARUM 



185 



cleft; fragments with tracheae showing close annular or reticulate 
thickenings of the wall. 




Fig. 77. — Asarum. Transverse section of the rhizome showing a uniseriate non- 
glandular hair (a); epidermal layer (6); several layers of collenchymatous 
cells (c); starch-bearing parenchyma of cortex (e); oil cells with suberized 
walls (d) ; endodermis (/) ; tracheae (g) with spiral or scalariform thickenings 
of the wall and associated with small tracheids; starch-bearing parenchyma 
of pith (h). — After Bastin, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1894, p. 574. 

Allied Plants. — The rhizome of a related species, Asarum euro- 
pseum, a common plant of the mountainous regions of Europe, is 



186 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



used in those countries. It very closely resembles Asarum, is of a 
grayish- or reddish-brown color, with an aromatic and pungent 
taste and the powder is sternutatory. It contains 1 per cent of a 
volatile oil which consists in part of a camphor known as asarin or 
asaron; 1 per cent of tannic acid colored green with ferric salts; 
2 per cent of starch and 0.15 per cent of resin. 

Serpentaria. — The rhizome and roots of several species of 
Aristolochia (Fam. Aristolochiacese), perennial herbs indigenous to 
the southern United States. There are two commercial varieties: 




Fig. 78. 



-Serpentaria (Virginia snakeroot) showing oblique rhizomes with numer- 
ous long, slender roots. 



(1) Virginia Snakeroot, jdelded by Aristolochia Serpentaria, found 
growing east of the Mississippi, and (2) Texas or Red River Snake- 
root, yielded by Aristolochia reticulata, growing west of the Mis- 
sissippi. The rhizome and roots are collected in autumn and dried 
(Fig. 78). 

Virginia Snakeroot. — Rhizome oblique, sub-cylindrical, with 
numerous slender roots and frequently with leaves or fruiting stems, 
10 to 25 mm. in length, a^d 1 to 2 mm. in diameter; externally dark 
brown, slightly annulate from scars of bud-scales, upper portion 



SERPENTARIA , 187 

with stem-scars or stem-remnants, under and side portions with 
numerous roots and root-scars; fracture short; internally, bark 
dark brown, 0.3 to 0.5 mm. in thickness, wood yellow, radiate, por- 
ous, 1 to 1.5 mm. in thickness, pith 1 mm. in diameter; odor tere- 
binthinate; taste bitter, aromatic. 

Roots nearly straight, 4 to 7 cm. in length, about 0.3 mm. in 
diameter, longitudinally wrinkled, bark light brown, wood yellowish, 
5-rayed. 

Texas Snakeroot. — Rhizome 10 to 40 mm. in length, 1 to 3 mm. 
in diameter; roots about 0.5 mm. in diameter, with numerous more 
or less interlacing rootlets. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 79.) Rhizome with an outer corky layer; 
bast fibers either single or in groups and forming a more or less closed 
ring; xylem composed of trachea? and wood fibers forming broad 
wedges; medullary rays about 8 cells wide the walls being porous 
and strongly lignified. Numerous starch grains occur in the paren- 
chyma cells of the cortex and pith and in the medullary rays. The 
root in section shows a compact 4- to 6-rayed stele and a wide starch- 
bearing cortex. The stem is distinguished by a continuous ring of 
schlerenchymatous fibers, and a few typical non-glandular hairs, 
the terminal cells being somewhat recurved in the form of a hook. 

Powder. — Grayish-brown or dark yellow ; starch grains numerous, 
single and 2- to 4-compound, the individual grains, from 0.003 to 
0.014 mm. in diameter, being more or less spheroidal or plano-convex, 
and frequently with a central cleft; lignified elements numerous, 
consisting of tracheae, wood-fibers, medullary ray cells and pith 
cells; a few typical non-glandular hairs of the stem are occasionally 
present. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil 0.5 to 1 per cent, the important con- 
stituent of which is borneol; a bitter poisonous principle, aristol 
lochin (serpentarin) , an alkaloidal principle, aristolochine ; several 
organic acids; starch; ash about 10 per cent. 

Substitutes. — The rhizome of yellow root (Jeffersonia diphylla) 
is sometimes substituted for serpentaria, from which it is distin- 
guished by its lack of odor and by having a bitter, acrid taste. 

POLYGONACE^, OR BUCKWHEAT FAMILY 

Mostly herbaceous plants, with nearly entire leaves, and dis- 
tinguished by having jointed stems, usually sheathing united stipules 
and a 3- to 4-angled achene. The plants also usually contain tannin 
cells and resinous secretory cells, the latter sometimes being branched 



188 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 







Fig. 79. — Serpentaria. A, transverse section of stem-internode showing epidermal 
layer (Ep) with a single stoma ; cells of cortex of which the outer strata are col- 
lenchymatous, the remainder being parenchymatous and containing chloro- 
plastids and oil; endodermis consisting of a layer of thin- walled starch-bearing 
cells (End) ; pericycle of several layers of thick-walled sclerenchymatous fibers 
(St). B, section of stele of stem-internode showing sclerenchymatous fibers 
(St) ; leptome (L) ; cambium extending to the parenchymatous rays between 
the vascular bundles (Camb); and hadrome (H) or tracheae portion of the 
vascular bundle. C, transverse section of a swollen node showing collen- 
chyma (C) of which the entire cortex is made up; starch-bearing endodermis 
(End) and steromatic pericycle (P) which is very much reduced. D, trans- 
verse section of a secondary root showing starch-bearing parenchyma cells 
of cortex (C); endodermis (End) of thin-walled cells with distinct (Cas- 
paryan spots and free from starch ; pericambium (P) ; leptome (L); hadrome 
(H). E, epidermis with silicified cells from the upper or ventral surface 
of the lamina of the leaf and are the cause of the small perforations seen in 
the leaf blade when held toward the light. F, non-glandular hairs from the 
leaf, one of which is very prominently curved forming a small hook. After 
Holm, Merck's Report, 1907, p. 276. 



RHUBARB 189 

The hairs include both non-glandular and glandular, the head in 
the latter being usually small, but sometimes large and peltate. 
Calcium oxalate usually occurs in the form of rosette aggregates. 

Rheum. — Rhubarb. — The rhizome of Rheum officinale, Rheum 
palmatum, Rheum palmatum tanguticum, and probably other 
species of Rheum (Fam. Polygonaceae), perennial herbs (Fig. 80) 
indigenous to northwestern China and eastern Thibet, and sparingly 
cultivated in other parts of the world. The rhizomes are collected 
in autumn from plants that are eight to ten years old, most of the 
bark is removed, and they are then perforated, strung on ropes and 
dried either in the sun or by artificial heat. The drug is exported 
chiefly from Shanghai. The principal commercial varieties are 
known as Chinese rhubarb, Canton rhubarb and Shensi rhubarb, 
the latter being preferred. 

Description. — Cut into irregular plano-convex and oblong pieces, 
frequently with a large perforation, hard and moderately heavy, 
5 to 15 cm. in length, 5 to 8 cm. in breadth and 3 to 6 cm. in thick- 
ness, externally mottled from alternating striae of light brown paren- 
chyma cells and dark-brown medullary rays, occasionally with 
reddish-brown cork patches and small radiate scars of fibrovascular 
tissue, smooth and sometimes covered with a light-brown powder; 
fracture somewhat granular; internally light brown; odor distinct; 
taste bitter, astringent and gritty. 

Light and spongy rhizomes should be rejected. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 81. 

Powder. — (Fig. 82.) Yellowish-brown; crystals of calcium 
oxalate in rosette aggregates, 0.050 to 0.150 mm. in diameter; starch 
grains numerous, spheroidal, from 0.002 to 0.020 mm. in diameter, 
either single or 2- to 4-compound; tracheae few, reticulate, occasion- 
ally spiral. The powder is colored reddish with alkalies. A com- 
mon adulterant is wheat middlings. The exhausted drug is fre- 
quently added to the powder and may be detected by the somewhat 
altered starch grains and the decrease in the amount of the aqueous 
or dilute alcoholic extract, which in genuine rhubarb is about 35 
per cent. 

Constituents. — The principal constituent appears to be a gluco- 
side (possibly the chrysophan of some authors) or an undetermined 
substance which yields successive oxidation products, viz.: chry- 
sophanic acid (di-oxy-methyl-anthraquinone) , emodin (tri-oxy- 
methyl-anthraquinone), and rhein (tetra-oxy-methyl-anthraqui- 
none). Chrysophanic acid crystallizes in golden-yellow, clinorhombic 
prisms and dissolves in alkalies and in concentrated sulphuric acid, 



190 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



the solutions having a deep-red color. It is reformed in rhubarb 
after extracting it by exposing the moistened root to air. Emodin 




Fig. 80. — Rheum officinale, growing in the Chelsea Physic Garden (London).—^ 

After Perredes. 



occurs to the extent of 1.5 per cent and forms orange-red needles 
which are soluble in hot toluene and give with alkalies and alkali 



RHUBARB 



191 



carbonates purplish colored solutions. Rhein forms yellowish-brown 
scales which are insoluble in hot toluene, soluble in hot acetic acid 
and produce purplish-red solutions with the alkalies or alkali car- 




FiG. 81. — Rhubarb. — Characteristic group of compound fibro vascular bundles 
seen in transverse section. (PH), a wedge-shaped group of leptome with 
starch-bearing and crystal cells, cambial layer (c) separating phloem from 
the xylem with their large tracheae (g) ; medullary rays cells (m) filled with a 
brownish amorphous substance. — After Moeller. 



bonates. Recently another oxymethylanthraquinone-yielding sub- 
stance, rheopurgarin, has been isolated from Shensi rhubarb. It 
forms yellow needles, and appears to be composed of four glucosides : 
(a) one related to emodin, (b) one related to rhein, (c) chrysophaneir 



192 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



which yields chrysophanic acid, and (d) rheochrysin, which yields a 
yellow crystalline body, rheochrysidine, considered to be identical 
with Hesse's rhabarberon or iso-emodin. The following glucosidal 
tannoid constituents are also present: glucogallin, yielding gallic 
acid, and tetrarin, yielding in addition to gallic acid, cinnamic acid 
and rheosmin, an aldehyde having the odor of rhubarb. A catechin 
resembling the catechin of gambir has also been found. Rhubarb 
also contains considerable starch; calcium oxalate; and yields about 
15 per cent of ash. 




Fig. 82. — Rhubarb: C, rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate; P, parenchyma 
containing starch grains (S); T, tracheae; E, sieve; R, reddish-brown amor- 
phous masses separated from the resin or tannin cells. 



Rhubarb leaves contain oxalic acid and cases of poisoning are 
recorded from their consumption. (Jour. A. M. A., 1917, p. 1954). 

Allied Plants. — The rhizomes of other species of Rheum are also 
used to a limited extent, as English or Austrian rhubarb from Rheum 
rhaponticum; they are more or less cylindrical, distinctly radiate, 
and contain, besides chrysophanic acid, rhapontin. Rheum palma- 
tum, which is cultivated in France, Germany and Russia, produces 
rhizomes that are lighter in color and less valuable than the Chinese 
rhubarb, the constituents being similar to those of Austrian rhubarb. 

Rhapontic rhubarb contains a crystalline glucoside rhaponticin, 
which is colored purplish-red with sulphuric acid, changing to orange. 



RUMEX 



193 



It is insoluble in ether and readily separates from a dilute alcoholic 
fluid extract on the addition of ether. 

Compound Powder of Rhubarb. — Consisting of powdered rhu- 
barb, magnesium oxide and powdered ginger. A pinkish-white 
mobile powder, becoming darker on exposure to air; when examined 
the compound powder of rhubarb shows a finely granular ground 
mass of magnesium oxide, numerous starch grains and characteristic 
fragments of vegetable tissues; starch grains of ginger more or less 
elliptical or ovoid, frequently with a prominent beak, from 0.005 
to 0.060 mm. in diameter, starch grains of rhubarb, single or com- 
pound, either spheroidal or polygonal, often with a central cleft 
and the individual grains from 0.002 to 0.020 mm. in diameter; 




Fig. 83. — Crystals of oxymethylanthraquinones sublimed from rhubarb, a, 
crystals obtained at higher temperatures; b, crystals obtained by sublima- 
tion at a lower temperature or may be obtained by re-crystallizing the 
form shown in (a). — After Tunmann, Pflanzenmikrochemie. 



mounts made with solution of hydrated chloral show a strong effer- 
vescence and show more clearly the fragments of reticulate tracheae, 
the reddish-brown parenchyma of rhubarb in some of the cells of 
which occur numerous small starch grains, and the characteristic 
rosette aggregate crystals . of calcium oxalate varying from 0.050 
to 0.100 mm. in diameter; with solutions of the alkalies many of the 
fragments become of a deep red color. 

Rumex: — Yellow Dock. — The rhizome and roots of the common 
3 r ellow dock or curled dock (Rumex crispus). The drug is collected 
in the autumn, freed from adhering rootlets, cut into longitudinal 
pieces or into transverse segments and dried. 

Description. — Usually in small pieces from 1 to 4 cm. in diameter 
and 3 to 25 mm. in thickness; or split into pieces attaining a length 



194 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

of 15 cm., occasionally entire, attaining a length of 3 dm.; externally 
reddish- to grayish-brown, upper or rhizome portions distinctly 
annulate, showing stem scars or stem bases and numerous small 
circular root scars; lower or root portion longitudinally wrinkled; 
fracture either short and mealy, or tough and fibrous; cortex narrow, 
reddish-brown, wood portion yellowish-brown to reddish-brown, 
somewhat radiate, pith usually depressed; odor slight; taste 
astringent, somewhat bitter and nauseous. 

Inner Structure. — Outer layer of a single row of dark-brown 
cells ; a stratum of collenchyma of several rows of very narrow tan- 
gentially elongated cells; parenchyma of cortex of thin-walled cells 
and containing either starch or rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate 
and distributed among which occur occasioned vascular bundles; 
the stele is composed of numerous small vascular bundles with a 
small number of tracheae separated by a cambium from the leptome 
which is distinct and composed of rather thick-walled more or less 
collapsed cells; pith composed of starch-bearing parenchyma and 
calcium oxalate. Sections mounted in solutions of ferric salts are 
colored bluish-green. The tannin cells may be determined by placing 
the fresh drug in solutions containing about 7 per cent of copper 
acetate. If sections are mounted in solutions of the alkalies they 
are colored deep red, due to the presence of chyrsophanic acid. 

Powder. — Dark brown; calcium oxalate in rosette aggregates 
from 0.020 to 0.080 mm. in diameter; starch grains numerous, ellip- 
soidal or narrowly elongated, from 0.003 to 0.025 mm. in length; stone 
cells occurring beneath the cork cells, 0.040 to 0.125 mm. in diameter, 
with walls that are somewhat lamellated, 0.015 to 0.020 mm. in 
thickness and with few simple pores; cork cells light brown; scleren- 
chymatous fibers wanting; tracheae about 0.100 mm. in width with 
scalariform and reticulate thickenings of the wall. On mixing the 
powder with water and adding a solution of one of the alkalies a 
red color is produced. In Rumex hymenosepalus the parenchyma 
cells are about 0.200 mm. in diameter, with reddish colored walls and 
contain numerous spheroidal or ellipsoidal starch grains from 0.008 to 
0.015 mm. in diameter; calcium oxalate crystals are few or wanting. 

Constituents. — Several crystalline principles, viz. : Rumicin, a 
principle isometric with chrysophanic ; nepodin, which occurs in 
in greenish prisms; and lapodin, which forms small needle-shaped 
crystals. The drug also contains a small amount of tannin, which 
is colored green with ferric salts. 

Radix Lapathi. — Bitter Dock Root. — The rhizome and roots 
of Rumex obtusifolius (Fam. Polygonaceae), a perennial herb which is 



BISTORT 195 

indigenous to Europe and naturalized in the United States, growing 
in waste places throughout the Eastern and Central States. The 
rhizome and roots are gathered late in the summer, cut longitudinally 
and transversely into pieces in order to facilitate their drying. 

The drug resembles that obtained from Rumex crispus, but is 
dark brown and considerably branched at the crown. In structure 
it resembles R. crispus, but there are small groups of yellowish bast 
fibers in the cortical layer; the wood parenchyma is furthermore 
thick-walled and lignified. The following constituents have been 
isolated from it: Rumicin or chrysophanic acid, emodin, tannic acid, 
resin, lapathinic acid, sugar and ash. The latter is found to the 
extent of 9 per cent and contains iron. 

Bistorta. — Rhizoma Bistorts, Bistort, Snakeroot or English 
Serpent ary. — The rhizome of Polygonum Bistorta (Fam. Poly- 
gonacese), a tall perennial herb growing in moist woods of 
Europe and Asia. The rhizome is collected in the fall, deprived of 
its roots, cut into smaller pieces and dried. 

The rhizome occurs in laterally flattened, occasionally branching 
pieces, from 2 to 6 cm. in length and 10 to 15 mm. in diameter; 
externally dark brown, more or less annulate, with a few slender 
roots and number of root scars; hard, tough and breaking with an 
almost smooth fracture; internally reddish-brown, distinctly radiate 
and showing a circle of darker vascular bundles, separating the large 
pith from a moderately wide cortex. 

In microscopic sections the rhizome shows either an epidermal 
layer of thick reddish-brown cells, or the development of one or more 
rows of brownish-black cork cells; the parenchyma of both the cor- 
tex and pith contain either starch, rosette aggregates of calcium 
oxalate, or tannin; the collateral vascular bundles are separated by 
medullary rays from 2 to 8 cells in width. 

Bistort contains from 15 to 20 per cent of gallic acid; 0.5 per cent 
of ellagic acid; 30 per cent of starch; 0.5 per cent of sugar; and 10 
per cent of a nitrogenous substance. 

Literature. — Zornig, Arzneidrogen. 



CHENOPODIACEiE, OR GOOSEFOOT FAMILY 

The plants are annual or perennial herbs and are widely distrib- 
uted. The leaves are mostly alternate and without stipules, the 
flowers are usually small and of a green color, and the fruit is a 1- 
seeded utricle. The most prominent characteristic in the structure 



196 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

of the plants of this family is the anomalous development of the stem 
in which secondary cambiums arise producing additional vascular 
bundles at the periphery of those originally formed. In the pericycle 
of the stem occur isolated groups of sclerenchymatous fibers. A 
great variety of forms of non-glandular hairs occur. Glandular 
hairs are rare except in a few genera, including Chenopodium, in 
which they consist of a series of superimposed cells the terminal cell 
of which is always glandular. Another rather interesting feature of 
this family is the presence in Atriplex and Chenopodium of bladder- 
like hairs for the storing of water >. . 

Chenopodium. — American Wormseed. — The dried ripe fruit of 
Chenopodium ambrosioides anthelminticum (L.) Gray, an annual 
or perennial herb growing in waste places throughout the United 
States. The plant flowers from July until September and its fruits 
ripen in the autumn, at which time they are gathered. Most of our 
supplies come from Florida. 

The fruit was at one time official but it has been replaced by its 
volatile oil. Considerable interest has been revived in this drug 
owing to the European war, which curtailed the supply of thymol and 
which has been used almost as a specific in the treatment of the hook- 
worm disease. The oil of Chenopodium has fortunately been found 
to possess properties that make it a valuable substitute for thymol 
as a vermifuge. The plant is cultivated in Maryland for the dis- 
tillation of the oil, and the oil distilled here is known commercially 
as Baltimore Oil of Chenopodium. 

Description. — Somewhat globular, frequently more or less com- 
pressed, occasionally with portions of a short stem; from 0.75 to 
1.5 mm. in diameter; pericarp inflated, greenish-brown, thin and 
friable; seeds reddish-brown or brownish-black, ellipsoidal, somewhat 
reniform, nearly smooth and shining; odor aromatic, distinct; 
taste pungent and bitter. 

Powder. — Yellowish-brown; fragments of membranous pericarp 
composed of elongated, colorless and thin-walled cells; seeds blackish 
shiny, reniform, about 0.150 mm. in diameter; seed-coat with polyg- 
onal, thin-walled reddish-brown pigment cells; numerous starch 
grains and small aleurone grains. 

Constituents. — From 0.6 to 1 per cent of a nearly colorless or 
yellowish volatile oil, having the odor and taste of the drug. It, 
consists of 45 to 70 per cent of an oxygenated compound, Ascaridol; 
22 per cent of p-Cymol; also a terpene and d-camphor. The leaves 
yield 0.35 per cent of volatile oil, and the fresh plant contains a 
white, crystalline inodorous alkaloid, Chenopodine. 



CHENOPODIUM 



197 



Allied Plants. — Under the name of Herba Chenopodii, the Aus- 
trian Pharmacopoeia recognizes Chenopodium ambrosioides. This 
plant, also known as Mexican Tea resembles very closely Cheno- 




Fig. 84. — American wormseed. Fruiting branches of Chenopodium ambrosi- 
oides anthelminticum. — From Bulletin No. 26, U. S. Department of Agri- 
culture. 



podium ambrosioides anthelminticum, and is widely distributed in 
the United States. It is an annual with oblong-lanceolate, nearly 
entire or repand-toothed leaves and has densely flowered, leafy 
spikes. Microscopically it is characterized by possessing glandular 



198 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

hairs and numerous cells that are filled with microcrystals of calcium 
oxalate. The plant yields 0.33 per cent of a volatile oil having a 
strong aromatic odor and a bitter, pungent taste. The oil is used 
in Brazil as a popular anthelmintic. The leaves of this plant yield 
a volatile oil having a repulsive, narcotic odor resembling trimethyl- 
amine. 

PHYTOLACCACEiE, OR POKEWEED FAMILY 

The family includes herbs, shrubs and trees and of which there are 
less than 100 species. They are for the most part indigenous to 
tropical and sub-tropical America and Africa, being represented in 
the United States by one genus, Phytolacca. The inner morphology 
is quite distinctive. Calcium oxalate usually occurs in the form of 
raphides and styloids, also occasionally in microcrystals. In the 
stem, the pericycle is a continuous sclerenchymatous sheath and the 
vascular bundles are of the medullary type, i.e., separated by broad 
medullary rays. The structure of the root is anomalous, consisting 
of the formation of successive secondary rings of vascular bundles. 
The hairs are of the simple, uniseriate type. Neither glandular 
hairs nor special secretory cells occur in plants of this family. 

Phytolacca. — Poke Root. — The root of Phytolacca decandra 
(Fam. Phytolaccacese), a perennial herb (Fig. 85) indigenous to 
eastern North America, and naturalized in the West Indies and 
southern Europe. The root is collected in autumn and, after removal 
of the rootlets, cut into transverse and longitudinal pieces and dried. 

Description. — Fusiform or nearly cylindrical, tapering, usually 
in longitudinal ribbon-like slices, 8 to 16 cm. in length, 5 to 15 mm. 
in diameter, 2 to 10 mm. in thickness; externally, bark dark brown, 
more or less wrinkled ; fracture fibrous, tough ; internally light brown, 
characterized by alternating zones of collateral fibrovascular bun- 
dles and parenchyma formed by secondary cambiums; odor slight; 
taste acrid. 

Inner Structure. — See Kraemer's "Applied and Economic Bot- 
any," p. 318. 

Powder. — Dark yellow; sternutatory; fragments with long 
sclerenchymatous fibers and large scalariform tracheae; starch 
grains 0.007 to 0.020 mm. in diameter; calcium oxalate in raphides 
0.030 mm. in length or in sphenoid microcrystals. 

Constituents. — A bitter, acrid glucoside resembling saponin; 
a crystalline alkaloid phytolaccine, which is soluble in alcohol and 
sparingly soluble in water; sugars 10 per cent; starch 10 per cent; 



POKE WEED 



199 



phytolaccic acid; formic acid; potassium formate 2 per cent; cal- 
cium oxalate 6 per cent; and ash 13 per cent of which about one- 
half is potassium oxide. 




Fig. 85. — Poke weed (Phytolacca decandra): A, portion of shoot showing leaves 
and stem which has a large pith with bi-convex cavities resembling the 
pith of certain xerophytic Compositse, as Senecio praecox of Mexico; B, 
raceme showing fruits at the lower portion and flowers at the summit; C, 
transverse section of leaf showing upper epidermis (ue), palisade cells (p), 
raphides (r), spiral tracheae (»)., parenchyma (m) with large intercellular 
spaces, lower epidermis (le); D, stoma of lower surface of leaf; E, transverse 
section of fruit; F, longitudinal section of seed, the embryo being curved and 
the endosperm containing starch. 



Phytolacca Fructus or Phytolacca Fruit occurs in agglutinated 
masses of a purplish-black color, and consists of the compound 



200 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

berries, which are about 8 mm. in diameter and composed of 10 loculi, 
each of which contains a single, lenticular, black seed. The sarcocarp 
is fleshy, sweet and slightly acrid and contains a purplish-red coloring 
principle which is soluble in water but not in alcohol, and which is 
decomposed on heating the aqueous solution. The fruit also con- 
tains phytolaccic acid, several fruit-acids and phytolaccin, a sub- 
stance resembling tannin. 

Literature.— Holm, Merck's Report, 1907, p. 312. 

CARYOPHYLLACEiE, OR PINK FAMILY 

Mostly annual or perennial herbs represented by about 1500 
species and are found mostly in the Northern Hemisphere, a large 
number growing in the United States. The stems are mostly swollen 
at the nodes; the leaves are entire and opposite and the flowers are 
symmetrical and 4- to 5-merous. Calcium oxalate occurs in the 
form of rosette aggregates ormicro crystals. The hairs, both glan- 
dular and non-glandular, are simple and uniseriate. Especially 
characteristic are the stomata, the walls of their two neighboring 
cells being transverse to the pores. Sclerenchymatous tissue is 
wanting in the leaf, but present in the form of a closed ring in the 
cortex of the stem. In the latter, the medullary rays are replaced 
by parenchyma. 

Radix Saponarle Rubra. — Red Soaproot, Soapwort or Sapon- 
ary. — The rhizome and roots of the perennial herb commonly known 
as Bouncing Bet or Soapwort, Saponaria officinalis (Fam. Caryo- 
phyllacese). The plant has been naturalized from Europe and is 
very common in certain localities, growing along roadsides, river 
banks and in waste places. The flowers are showy and vary from 
white to rose pink in color. The thick rhizomes, with their more oi 
less fleshy roots, are gathered from one- or two-year old plants 
deprived of the smaller roots and cut transversely into pieces of 
suitable length. 

Description. — Cylindrical, more or less branched, from 5 to 12 
cm. in length and 5 to 10 mm. in thickness; outer surface reddish- 
brown, longitudinally wrinkled and furrowed and occasionally spirally 
twisted; fracture short and even; inner surface with a brownish- 
red corky layer, cambial zone distinct separating the non-radiate 
yellowish wood from the whitish, yellowish or grayish-brown cortex; 
odor slight; taste sweetish and bitter. Rhizomes usually more or 
less knotted and 4-angled and possess 2 to 4 characteristic wood 
wedges. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 86. 



SOAP ROOT 



201 




Fig. 86. — Saponaria officinalis. A, showing the thick, branching, horizontally 
creeping rhizome (stolon), producing numerous buds (B) and ramifying 
roots (T) at the nodes; R, base of a long thick secondary root; St, an ascend- 
ing stolon which has not yet reached the surface of the ground. B, trans- 
verse section of an apical internode of a stolon, showing epidermal cells 
(Ep), the inner collapsed portion of cortex (C), and the outermost layer of 
pericycle consisting of sclerenchymatous fibers (St). C, transverse section 
of apical internode of a stolon, showing the innermost layer of sclerenchy- 
matous fibers of the pericycle (St), underneath which is the underlying cork 
(Co); phelloderm (Ph) and leptome (L). D, transverse section of part of a 



202 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Constituents. — Saporubrin, a saponin-like glucoside, to the 
extent of 4 per cent. The drug also contains Saporubic acid, which 
resembles the Quillajic acid found in Quillaja. The leaves of this 
plant are "said to contain another glucoside, termed by Barger, 
Saponarin. 

Allied Drugs. — The over-ground stems are sometimes collected 
and cut into small pieces about 5 mm. in length. These resemble 
Dulcamara and have been sold for it. It is distinguished by the 
stems of Saponaria being nearly cylindrical, marked by distinctly 
swollen nodes and usually having a solid pith. 

ANONACE^), OR CUSTARD APPLE FAMILY 

A family of trees or shrubs common in the tropics and repre- 
sented in the eastern United States by the North American Papaw 
(Asimina triloba). The fruits of the latter are ellipsoidal berries, 
from 5 to 15 cm. in length, having a yellowish-brown pulp and con- 
tain a number of dark-brown seeds. The fruit ripens after frost, 
possesses a sweetish taste resembling the banana, and is highly 
esteemed by the negroes. 

The leaves of this family are mostly aromatic, due to the presence 
of resin-secretion cells, which are similar to those found in the Mag- 
noliaceae. Mucilage cells are also present in some of the genera. 
It is not infrequent to find in the pith large lacunae separated by 
groups of stone cells. Calcium oxalate usually occurs in the form of 
rosette aggregates, although isolated crystals are also present. The 
non-glandular hairs are of different types. Glandular hairs are 
absent. 

Anona Muricata. — Soursop. — The leaves of Anona muricata 
(Fam. Anonacese), a shrub growing in the Savannas of the Antilles 
and Brazil and cultivated to some extent, are reputed to possess 
medicinal properties. A chemical examination of the leaves which 
were obtained from Dominica, W. I., showed them to contain a small 
amount of a volatile oil; an alkaloidal substance which could not be 
crystallized; myricyl alcohol; sitosterol; a substance designated 
anonol, which is probably a phytosterol-glucoside; a mixture of 
fatty acids; and considerable potassium chloride, together with" 



stele of an apical internode of a stolon showing the phelloderm (Ph) and the 
inter-fasicular tissue which has developed into leptome (L); cambium (Camb) 
and hadrome (V); pith (P). E, longitudinal section of the pith portion of 
a thick root showing 2 of the spiral vessels. — After Holm. 



NUTMEG 203 

dextrose, tannin, and amorphous products. (Power, Pharm. Journ., 
1911, p. 743.) 

MYRISTICACE^, OR NUTMEG FAMILY 

A small family consisting of about 80 species of tropical trees 
and shrubs. The leaves are entire and evergreen, the flowers are 
small, and the plants are dioecious. The fruit is a fl ^shy capsule and 
the seeds are covered by a fleshy arillus. The family is furthermore 
characterized by the presence of spheroidal secretion cells, containing 
a semi-fluid or crystalline oily substance, which is variously colored 
from yellow or red to brownish-black. The cells possess suberized 
walls and are distributed in all parts of the plant. Calcium oxalate 
occurs in the form of small needle-shaped crystals, which frequently 
are arranged in aggregates. The hairs are of the stellate type and 
are very characteristic for several of the species. 

Myristica. — Nutmeg. — The kernel of the seed of Myristica 
fragrans (Fam. Myristicacese), a tree indigenous to the Molucca and 
neighboring islands, and now extensively cultivated in other tropical 
regions, including the West Indies. The commercial supply is 
largely derived from the Malay Archipelago, whence it is shipped to 
Amsterdam and London. The testa and arillode are removed, the 
latter constituting mace. With the exception of those from Penang, 
nutmegs are not infrequently partially coated with lime to protect 
them from the attacks by insects. The Banda Islands produce a 
large part of the world's supply of nutmegs, as well as the other spices, 
and the term " Banda " when applied to either nutmeg or mace 
indicates a superior quality. 

Description. — Ellipsoidal, 20 to 30 mm. in length, 15 to 20 mm. 
in diameter; externally lignt brown, usually whitish from a dressing 
of lime, reticulately furrowed, at one end a white, smooth projection 
3 to 5 mm. in diameter, in the center of which is the micropyle, the 
chalaza indicated near the other end by a slight, dark depression 
from which there extends a more or less distinct furrow indicating 
the position of the raphe; easily cut, the surface having a waxy 
luster, and mottled by reason of the light-brown perisperm penetrat- 
ing into the yellowish-brown endosperm, the shrunken embryo lying 
in an irregular cavity about 4 or 5 mm. in length, near the micropyle; 
odor and taste aromatic and pleasant. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 87. 

Powder. — Dark reddish-brown; numerous irregular yellowish- 
brown or brownish-black fragments of secondary perisperm, showing 



204 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 87. — Myristica. A, transverse section through the kernel showing the 
outer layer of perisperm (hp) with its inward ramifying projections (v), 
which extend into the endosperm (d) ; in the latter are irregular cavities (s) 
in which occurs a lighter and more recently developed tissue corresponding 
to the endosperm. B, a surface view of the perisperm with brownish thin- 
walled cells and containing an amorphous reddish-brown substance in which 
rod-shaped crystals of either calcium carbonate or a salt of tartaric acid may 
separate. C, transverse section showing perisperm composed of thin- 
walled lignified cells having a reddish-brown content; cells of endosperm (E) 
containing either starch grains (am), aleurone grains (al), tannic acid, or a 
reddish-brown amorphous substance (/) ; secondary perisperm (F) composed 
of secretion cells having an amorphous brownish content and small paren- 
chyma. D, transverse section through one of the infolded strands of peri- 



NUTMEG 205 

the large nearly transparent spheroidal or ellipsoidal oil-secretion 
cells, associated with small polygonal parenchyma and spiral tracheae; 
parenchyma cells of the endosperm more or less polygonal, and filled 
with starch grains and aleurone grains; starch grains single or 2- 
to 20-compound, the individual grains being spheroidal, plano- 
convex or polygonal, from 0.003 to 0.020 mm. in diameter and colored 
blue with iodin solution (distinction from starch grains in mace, 
which are colored yellowish-red); fragments of parenchyma con- 
taining aleurone grains show frequently large rhombohedral prisms. 
Mounts made with hydrated chloral solutions show numerous glob- 
ules of a fixed oil which later may separate in the form of rod-like 
crystals; mounts in any of the fixed oils show the separation of 
spheroidal aggregates of crystals of the fixed oil which polarize light 
strongly. The powder made from " limed " Nutmeg shows, under 
the microscope, upon the addition of water containing 25 per cent 
of sulphuric acid, the immediate separation of crystals of calcium 
sulphate in the form of small needles or short rods which do not 
polarize light. 

Constituents. — Fixed oil, sometimes occurring in prismatic 
crystals, 25 to 40 per cent; volatile oil 8 to 15 per cent. The oil 
is official as Oleum Myristicae and contains myristicin and a number 
of terpenes. Nutmegs also contain considerable proteins and starch, 
the latter being colored blue by iodin solutions. 

Standard of Purity. — Nutmeg is the dried seed of Myristica 
fragrans Houtt., deprived of its testa, with or without a thin coating 
of lime (CaO). It contains not less than 25 per cent of non-volatile 
ether extract, not more than 10 per cent of crude fiber, not more than 
5 per cent of total ash, nor more than 0.5 per cent of ash insoluble 
in hydrochloric acid. 

Macassar nutmeg, Papua nutmeg, male nutmeg, long nutmeg, is 
the dried seed of Myristica argentea Warb., deprived of its testa. 
(U. S. Dept. of Agric.) 

Allied Plants. — Other species of myristica yield nutmegs which 
are used by the natives, as M. succedanea of Timor, M. fatua of the 
Indian Archipelago, and M. Kombo of Guinea. The kernels of the 
seeds of M. fatua constitute the long, wild, or male nutmeg. They 
are narrow-ellipsoidal, feebly aromatic and have a more or less dis- 



sperm showing a central vascular bundle (?/), having on either side a layer 
with large oil-secretion cells and small polygonal parenchymatous cells; 
cells of the endosperm (L) surrounding the strand of secondary perisperm,— 
A and D, after Meyer; B and C, after Moeller. 



206 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

agreeable taste. The seeds of M. officinalis and M. Bicuhyba of 
Brazil have medicinal properties, a balsam being obtained from the 
latter, which is used as a substitute for copaiba. The so-called 
African nutmegs derived from M. surinamensis of the West Indies 
soon lose their odorous properties. M. sebifera of Guiana yields a 
fixed oil which has but little odor of nutmeg. Fatty and ethereal 
oils resembling those of nutmeg are found in the " American nut- 
megs " obtained from Cryptocarya moschata (Fam. Lauraceae) of 
Brazil. 

Adulterants. — Kernels which are wormy or more or less broken 
should be rejected. Imitation nutmegs have been made by molding 
the exhausted powder or other substances into forms resembling 
nutmeg. These can be distinguished on cutting into the kernel, 
or if it is made from a powder, on placing it into water it will imme- 
diately disintegrate. During Colonial times, when spices were 
expensive luxuries, imitation nutmegs were made in Connecticut 
from the bass wood, or linden (Tilia americana). 

Macis. — Mace. — The arillode of the seed of Myristica fragrans 
(Fam. Myristicacese) . According to Warburg the arillode arises in 
the region of the hilum before the flower opens and fertilization is 
effected. The mace, as it occurs on the seeds (see Nutmeg) recently 
collected, is of a brilliant red color. It is removed by hand, dried 
in the sun and acquires a yellowish or orange-brown color. It is 
usually shipped to Java or Singapore for exportation. The genuine 
article is usually referred to as Banda Mace. 

Description. — In coarsely reticulate bands about 1 mm. in 
thickness, the whole having the outline of the nutmeg, the basal 
portion united, but with a small, irregular opening; usually in 
compressed, nearly entire pieces, reddish or orange-brown, some- 
what translucent, brittle when dry; odor and taste aromatic. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 88. 

Powder. — Yellowish- or orange-brown; very oily and with an 
aroma resembling nutmeg, but more delicate; numerous fragments 
with elongated epidermal cells and starch-bearing parenchyma, 
intermixed with which are the large, transparent, more or less 
spheroidal oil-secretion cells. The latter are about 0.065 mm. in 
diameter and contain a yellowish or yellowish-brown oily substance. 
The starch grains are of an amylo-dextrin nature, being colored red 
with iodin, and the individual grains are mostly irregular, rod-like 
and from 0.003 to 0.010 mm. in length. The addition of solutions 
of potassium hydrate to the sections liberates the oil, producing a 
yellow color. The use of concentrated sulphuric acid, in a similar 



MACE 



207 



manner, dissolves the oil, imparting to the globules a light orange- 
red color, which is more or less permanent and does not become 
reddish-brown. 

Constituents. — An aromatic balsam 24.5 per cent; volatile oil 
4 to 7 per cent and resembling that obtained from nutmegs but 
containing a larger percentage of terpenes; fixed oil, and consid- 
erable starch, which is colored red by iodin solution, distinguishing 
it from nutmeg starch. Mace also contains from 2 to 4 per cent of a 



0> o eO CD CD O* CD C3 O^^i^^ij^^ 




<3 3g? 



Fig. 88. — Mace: E, epidermal cells, which in transverse section are nearly 
isodiametric, but in longitudinal section are elongated, sometimes being 
1 mm. in length; P, parenchyma cells with small starch grains which are 
colored reddish with iodin ; Z, large oil cells showing oil globules and proto- 
plasmic contents lining the walls; T, tracheae; S, small, irregular starch 
grains. 



dextrogyrate sugar. (Power and Solway, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1908, 
p. 563.) 

Standard of Purity. — Mace is the dried arillus of Myristica fra- 
grans Houtt. It contains not less than 20 per cent nor more than 30 
per cent of non-volatile ether extract, not more than 10 per cent of 



208 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

crude fiber, not more than 3 per cent of total ash, nor more than 
0.5 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. 

Macassar mace, Papua mace, is the dried arillus of Myristica 
argentea Warb. (U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Allied Plants. — Macassar or Papua mace, derived from Myris- 
tica argentea, is somewhat darker, with broader segments than true 
mace and possesses an odor suggestive of methyl salicylate. It 
gives a cherry-red color with solutions of the alkalies or concentrated 
sulphuric acid, is very pungent and yields over 50 per cent of non- 
volatile ether extract, and less than 10 per cent of starch. 

Bombay mace, or Wild mace, is the product of Myristica mala- 
barica; it is distinguished from true mace in that the entire mace is 
narrow-ellipsoidal, the reticulations are not so coarse, the summit is 
divided into numerous narrow lobes, and it is darker in color. With 
alkalies or sulphuric acid wild mace assumes a darker red color than 
the true mace. It is slightly aromatic, but has little value as a spice, 
and yields nearly 60 per cent of non-volatile ether extract. 

Bombay mace is very largely used to adulterate genuine mace 
and is usually suspected when a powdered article has a pronounced 
reddish color. It can readily be distinguished by its more numerous 
oil-cells and the fragments being colored bright red upon mounting 
the powder in concentrated sulphuric acid or a solution of potassium 
hydroxide. 

RANUNCULACE^, OR CROWFOOT FAMILY ] 

A large family, consisting of about 1000 species, widely dis- 
tributed except in the tropics. They are mostly annual or perennial 
herbs, a few being somewhat woody and climbing, as Clematis. The 
parts of the flower are numerous, the sepals and petals being from 3 
to 15, the stamens indefinite, and the carpels usually 5 to 20. The 
fruits are either achenes, follicles or berries. Among the anatomical 
characteristics of this family the following may be mentioned. In 
transverse sections the xylem of the collateral vascular bundle is 
heart-shaped, having the phloem distributed in the sinus. The 
pericycle, especially in the woody species, is in the form of a closed 
ring of sclerenchyma. The hairs are both glandular and non- 
glandular, the former being always 1-celled and usually mucilaginous. 
In the leaves of Aconitum and Anemone occur so-called " arm 
cells " in the palisade layer. 

Hydrastis. — Golden Seal. — The dried rhizome and roots 
of Hydrastis canadensis (Fam. Ranunculaceae), a perennial herb 



HYDRASTIS 



209 



(Fig. 89) indigenous to the eastern United States and Canada. 
The rhizome and roots are collected in autumn. 




Fig. 89. — Golden seal (Hydrastis canadensis): A, young plant with horizontal 
rhizome and numerous roots. B, fruit-head of small berries. C. older 
plant showing the palmately lobed leaves. 

Description. — Rhizome horizontal or oblique, sub-cylindrical, 
2 to 5 cm. in length, 3 to 6 mm. in diameter; externally yellowish 
or dark brown, slightly annulate from circular scars of bud-scales, 



210 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



upper surface with numerous short stem-remnants or stem-scars, 
under and side portions with numerous roots or root-scars; frac- 
ture short, waxy; internally deep yellow, bark about 0.5 mm. in 
thickness, wood radiate, about 1 mm. in thickness, pith light yellow; 
odor distinct ; taste bitter. 




Fig. 90. — Transverse section of a part of the rhizome of hydrastis near the 
cambium: P, parenchyma; S, sieve; C, cambium; T, tracheae; F, wood 
fibers. 



Roots 4 to 7 cm. in length, 0.2 to 0.4 mm. in diameter; inter- 
nally bright yellow, wood somewhat quadrangular. 
Inner Structure. — See Fig. 90. 



HYDRASTIS 



211 



Powder. — (Fig. 91.) Bright yellow to brownish-yellow; starch 
grains numerous, from 0.002 to 0.015 mm. in diameter, being mostly 
single, nearly spheroidal, and either free or in the parenchyma cells; 
fragments with the tissues of the fibro vascular bundles mostly 
associated with starch-bearing parenchyma; tracheae, with simple 
and bordered pores and occasionally spiral thickenings, and asso- 
ciated with short sclerenchymatous fibers possessing thin walls 
with simple pores; occasional fragments of tabular cork cells with 
reddish-brown walls. 




m ft* 



Fig. 91. — Hydrastis: P, parenchyma; S, parenchyma containing starch; T, 
tracheae with annular and reticulate thickenings of the walls; F, tracheids 
with simple pores; C, cambium; K, cork; B, parenchyma cells showing the 
separation of acicular crystals of one of the alkaloids on the addition of 
concentrated sulphuric acid; H, prisms of one of the alkaloids which sepa- 
rate on the addition of concentrated sulphuric acid to a powder previously 
moistened with water. 



Constituents. — Two alkaloids — one, hydrastine, occurring to 
the extent of 2 to 3 per cent, and forming colorless, tasteless 4-sided 
prisms, although the salts are pale yellow and bitter; the other, 
berberine, occurring to the extent of 3 to 4 per cent in the form of 
yellow rods (Fig. 92), which are bitter and readily form compounds 



212 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 92. — Berberine sulphate: orthorhombic crystals from aqueous solution. 




Berberine hydrochloride: small orthorhombic needles, from aqueous solution, 



ACONITE 213 

with acetone, alcohol and chloroform. In addition, the drug con- 
tains a small amount of an alkaloid, canadine (tetrahydro-berber- 
ine), and considerable starch. Calcium oxalate is wanting. 

From the point of view of the study of crystals obtained by 
microsublimation, Hydrastis is one of the most interesting. It is 
possible to obtain appreciable quantities of a crystalline sublimate 
by heating from 0.010 to 0.050 gm. of powdered Hydrastis to a 
temperature of 80° to 95° C. Furthermore there are certain con- 
firmatory tests that may be directly applied to the microcrystals, 
using special reagents, so that in some respects Hydrastis becomes 
one of the most fascinating drugs for this kind of study. These 
crystal sublimates are illustrated in Kraemer's Applied and Eco- 
nomic Botany, pp. 174 and 175. In this work is also shown a photo- 
micrograph of crystals of hydrastine obtained from alcoholic solu- 
tions (Fig. 423, p. 770). 

Elsa Schmidt gives a method for separation of hydrastine and 
berberine on a large scale. (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1919, 91, p. 270). 

Allied Plants. — The alkaloid berberine, or a principle closely 
resembling it, is found in the following plants of the Ranunculaceae : 
False rhubarb (Thalictrum flavum) of Europe; and the following 
plants growing in the United States: Gold-thread (Coptis trifolia), 
yellow root (Xanthorrhiza apiifolia), and marsh marigold (Caltha 
palustris). A principle resembling berberine is found in the follow- 
ing plants belonging to the Rutaceae: Several species of Zieria 
found in Southern Australia and Tasmania, and Toddalia aculeata 
found in the mountains of eastern Africa, tropical Asia and the 
Philippine Islands. (See also Berberis.) 

AcoNiTUM.-Aconite. — The tuberous root of Aconitum Na- 
pellus (Fam. Ranunculaceae) , a perennial herb growing in the 
mountainous districts of Europe, Asia and western North America. 
It is also cultivated in temperate regions. The commercial supplies 
are obtained from England and Germany, and in England the root 
is collected in autumn from cultivated plants after the overground 
parts have died down, whereas in Germany the roots are collected 
from wild plants during the flowering period, this being done to dis- 
tinguish the particular species yielding the drug. The root should 
be carefully dried. 

Description. — More or less conical or fusiform, 4 to 10 cm. in 
length, 5 to 20 in diameter; externally, dark brown, smooth or some- 
what wrinkled, the upper portion with a bud, remains of bud-scales 
or stem-scars, with numerous root-scars or short roots; fracture 
horny, somewhat mealy; internally, bark light or dark brown, 1 



214 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



to 2 mm. in thickness, cambium irregular, 5- to 7-angled, wood 
yellowish, in small bundles at the angles, pith light brown, about 2 
to 6 mm. in diameter; odor very slight; taste sweetish, acrid, pun- 
gent, accompanied by a sensation of numbness and tingling. 

The shrunken, hollow, older tubers, together with the over- 
ground stem-remnants, should be rejected. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 93. 




Fig. 93. — Transverse section of aconite : K, cork; #, epidermis; S T, stone cells; 
EN, endodermis; C, cambium; T, tracheae; P, parenchyma. 



Powder. — (Fig. 94.) Grayish-brown to dark brown; starch 
grains numerous, spheroidal, somewhat plano-convex, single or 
2- to 5-compound, the individual grains from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. 
in diameter and frequently with a central cleft; tracheae mostly 



ACONITE 



215 



with slit-like, simple pores, sometimes with spiral or reticulate 
thickenings or with bordered pores; stone cells (Fig. 95) single, 
tabular, irregular in shape or elongated to fibers from 0.100 to 0.400 
mm. in length, walls from 0.008 to 0.025 mm. in thickness, strongly 
lignified and having large simple pores; fragments of cork few, 
yellowish-brown; fragments of parenchyma numerous, the cells 
being filled with starch grains; bast-fibers from stems few, very 




o 



Fig. 94. — Aconite: T, tracheae with scalariform thickenings and bordered pores; 
ST, stone cells; P, parenchyma with starch grains; S, starch grains; C, E, 
cork. 



long, with lignified walls about 0.005 mm. in thickness, and marked 
by transverse or oblique, slit-like pores. 

A qualitative test having some quantitative value in determining 
the potency of powdered Aconite is as follows: 0.500 gm. of the 
finely powdered aconite (containing 0.50 per cent of aconitine) is 
mixed with 500 c.c. of water and shaken occasionally during the 
course of five minutes. A few cubic centimeters of the filtered solu- 
tion, if swallowed, produces a distinct and characteristic sensation 
in the throat. 



216 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Constituents. — A number of alkaloids have been isolated, of 
which aconitine is the most important; it occurs to the extent of 



A /< — ■ — > j c 



^Q 




Q £^> f 





* " C 2J 







Fig. 95. — Various forms of stone cells in Aconite root. The cells vary in form, 
size and thickness of the walls. They are from 0.051 to 0.391 mm. in length, 
fom 0.034 to 0.102 mm. in width, the thickness of the wall being 0.008 to 
0.025 mm. The average length is about 0.120 mm., width 0.070 mm. and 
thickness of wall 0.010 mm. The outline of the lumina of the cells varies 
from nearly smooth to slightly irregularly undulate or more or less ragged 
and angular. — After Stingel, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1913, p. 391. 



about 0.75 per cent, and forms prisms (Fig. 96), which are not col- 
ored by concentrated sulphuric or nitric acid. An aqueous solution 



ACONITE 217 

of the alkaloid, after acidulating with acetic acid, gives on the 
addition of a solution of potassium permanganate a red crystalline 
precipitate. Aconitine decomposes quite readily and several of its 
derivatives have been isolated: benzaconine, an inert alkaloid and 
aconine which produces apparently contrary physiological effects 
to aconitine. The alkaloid napelline may be isomeric with aconine. 
Aconite also contains considerable aconitic acid, which is chiefly 
combined with calcium and occurs in other genera of the Fam. 
Ranunculacese, viz.: Delphinium and Adonis; besides considerable 
starch; a little mannitol and a resin. The other alkaloids are 




Fig. 96. — Aconitine: orthorhombic crystals, crystallized from alcoholic solutions. 

amorphous and non-toxic, and of these isaconitine (napelline) has 
been employed medicinally. 

Aconitine (acetyl-benzoyl-aconine) occurs in colorless, nearly 
transparent, glistening crystals. From alcoholic solution ortho- 
rhombic prisms (Fig. 96) usually predominate while from solutions 
in which chloroform is the solvent, the tendency is for small isolated 
rosette aggregates to separate. The crystals vary in length from 
0.1 mm. to 1 mm., although crystals as large as 1 cm. in length and 
0.5 cm. in thickness have been obtained. Upon rapidly heating, the 
M. P. is 197°-198° C. At 25° C. one part of aconitine is soluble in 
3226 parts of water; 22 parts of alcohol; 44 parts of ether; and 5.6 
parts of benzene. The gold salt of aconitine is amorphous when 



218 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

first precipitated, but may be obtained in three crystalline modifica- 
tions by the use of various solvents. 1 

Allied Plants. — Japanese aconite is obtained from Aconitum 
Fischeri; the root is smaller, conical, nearly smooth and the starch 
grains are much larger than those of the official drug. Indian 
aconite, the product of Aconitum ferox, is a much larger root and 
somewhat horny, owing to the gelatinization of the starch in its 
preparation for market. 

A very large number of species of Aconitum are used medicinally. 
These may be brought into five groups: (1) Those containing the 
alkaloid aconitine, as Aconitum Napellus; (2) those containing pseud- 
aconitine, which, while it resembles in some of its properties acon- 
itine, is not chemically identical with it, and is found in the Indian 
aconite obtained from A. ferox, A. luridum and A. palmatum; 
(3) those containing the alkaloid, japaconitine, which closely resem- 
bles pseudaconitine and is found in Japanese aconite, obtained from 
A. Fischeri; (4) those which contain the narcotic bases, lycaconitine 
and myoctonine, found in A. lycoctonum of Asia and Europe; (5) 
those yielding lappaconitine, a powerful alkaloid occurring in A. 
septentrionale, a nearly related species to A. lycoctonum. 

Adulterant. — The roots of Aconitum chasmanthum are about 
2 cm. in length and 0.75 cm. in thickness, nearly smooth and the 
rootlet stubs are usually clustered at the basal end ; the inner surface 
is lighter in color and less resinous. (U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Aconiti Folia. — Aconite Leaves, Herba Aconita. — The leaves 
and flowering tops of Monkshood or Wolfsbane, Aconitum Napellus 
(Fam. Ranunculacese) . The drug is gathered from wild plants 
at about the time of flowering during June or July and carefully 
dried. It should be stored in tightly closed containers and not 
exposed to light. 

Description. — More or less crumpled or broken; entire leaves 
long petiolate, and palmately divided into 3, 5 or 7 segments; the 
latter are wedge-shaped, having 2 or 3 deeply incised lobes, which 
are linear or linear-lanceolate and acute or pointed. The flowers 
are dark blue, usually arranged on a spike-like raceme, the upper 
sepal being hooded or helmet-shaped and covering the 2 long-clawed 
smaller petals ; fruit consisting of 2 or 3 separate, somewhat flattened 
lanceolate follicles and enclosing several seeds. The latter are 
somewhat triangular, grayish-brown, 4 mm. in length and more or 
less wrinkled and scaly. Fragments of stems attaining a length of 

*A. E. Tutton, Zeitschr. f. Krystallog., 1891 (19), p. 178. 



CIMICIFUGA 219 

2 dm. and a diameter of 4 mm.; light yellowish-brown to grayish- 
brown, longitudinally wrinkled and marked by numerous branch, 
leaf or flower bases. 

Inner Structure. — See Kraemer's Applied and Economic Botany, 
p. 534. 

Powder. — Dark yellowish-green; numerous fragments showing 
wavy epidermal cells and elliptical stomata; tracheae either close 
annular, spiral or with simple pores; bast fibers with strongly 
thickened, lignified and porous walls; non-glandular hairs few, uni- 
cellular, more or less curved and papillose. Fragments of the blue 
sepals are colored purplish-red upon the addition of dilute hydro- 
chloric acid, and bright green upon the addition of solutions of the 
alkalies. 

Constituents. — Aconitine from 0.15 to 0.3 per cent; also aconitic 
acid, tannic acid, inosit and sugar. The yield of ash is from 15 to 
20 per cent. 

Cimicifuga. — Black Snakeroot. Black Cohosh. — The dried 
rhizome and roots of Cimicifuga racemosa (Fam. Ranunculaceae), 
a perennial herb, indigenous to Asia, eastern Europe and North 
America. The drug is collected in autumn, the United States fur- 
nishing the principal supply. 

Description. — Rhizome horizontal, with numerous upright or 
curved branches and few roots, 2 to 15 cm. in length, 1 to 2.5 cm. 
in diameter; externally dark brown, slightly annulate from circular 
scars of bud-scales, the upper surface with buds, stem-scars and 
stem-remnants, under and side portions with numerous root-scars 
and few roots; fracture horny; internally, bark dark green, about 
1 mm. in thickness, wood dark brown, 4 to 5 mm. in thickness, 
distinctly radiate; pith 3 to 5 mm. in diameter; odor slight; taste 
bitter and acrid. 

Roots brittle, nearly 'cylindrical or obtusely quadrangular; 
externally dark brown, longitudinally wrinkled, 3 to 12 cm. in 
length, 1 to 2 mm. in diameter; fracture short; internally, bark 
dark brown, 0.2 to 0.4 mm. in thickness, wood light brown, usually 
four-rayed. 

Inner Structure. — An epidermal layer composed of yellowish- 
brown cells with suberized walls; a cortex of starch-bearing paren- 
chyma cells; fibro vascular bundles, collateral, the xylem con- 
sisting of tracheae, with bordered pores, and resembling tracheids 
in that the ends are rather acute; wood-fibers numerous, thin-walled, 
strongly lignified and with simple, oblique pores; the bundles sep- 
arated by starch-bearing parenchyma strands from 5 to 30 cells 



220 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



wide; pith cells numerous, resembling those of the cortex. For 
structure of root, consult Fig. 97. 

Powder. — Light to dark brown; starch grains numerous, single 
or compound, the individual grains from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. in 
diameter; spheroidal or more of less polygonal, each with a some- 
what central cleft; fragments of tracheae with scalariform thicken- 




Fig. 97. — Cimicifuga. Transverse section of the central part of a mature root 
in which the secondary changes are completed: a, parenchyma; b, endo- 
dermis; c, cambium zone; d, tracheae in secondary xylem; e, broad, wedge- 
shaped medullary rays; /, outer portion of one of the primary xylem bundles; 
g, parenchyma beneath the endodermis; h, inter-fascicular cambium. — 
After Bastin. 



ings or bordered pores and lignified wood-fibers; irregular, yellowish- 
brown fragments of suberized epidermis made up of more or less 
tabular cells, sometimes elongated and considerably thickened. 



STAVESACRE 221 

Constituents. — Two crystalline principles soluble in chloroform; 
a colorless crystalline substance soluble in ether; a crystalline prin- 
ciple soluble in water; a trace of an alkaloid and several organic 
acids; considerable starch and a tannin-like principle giving a green 
color with ferric salts, thus distinguishing the drug from the rhizome 
of Helleborus niger; ash not exceeding 10 per cent. 

Literature. — Holm, Merck's Report, 1908, p. 263; Bastin, 
Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1895, p. 121. 

Staphisagria. — Stavesacre. — The ripe seed of Delphinium 
Staphisagria (Fam. Ranunculacese) , an annual or biennial native of 
southern Europe and Asia Minor, and cultivated in Austria (Trieste), 
Italy and southern France, from which latter countries the com- 
mercial supplies are obtained. 

Description. — Anatropous, irregularly triangular or somewhat 
tetrahedral, one side convex, the others plane, the micropylar end 
acute or obtuse, 5 to 6 mm. in length, 3 to 6 mm. in breadth; exter- 
nally dark brown, becoming lighter and duller with age, more or 
less uniformly reticulate, the pits being about 0.5 mm. in diameter, 
raphe forming a more or less distinct ridge on the largest of the plane 
surfaces or on the edge of two united sides, epidermis modified to 
distinct papillae, inner seed-coat yellowish-brown, adhering to the 
endosperm when moistened, the latter white or yellowish, and enclos- 
ing at the pointed end a small, straight embryo 1 mm. in length and' 
with a relatively large hypocotyl; slightly odorous; taste of endo- 
sperm intensely bitter and acrid. j 

Inner Structure. — An epidermal layer of yellowish, nearly tabular, 
thick-walled, non-lignified cells, some being extended centrifugally, 
and forming the reticulations of the seed-coat; 2 or 3 rows of paren- 
chyma cells with more or less irregular thin walls; a thin layer of 
very small, thick-walled cells with numerous, lattice-like or reticulate 
pores; endosperm large, composed of polygonal cells enclosing small 
aleurone grains and fixed oil, the latter forming in large globules 
on the addition of solutions of hydrated chloral, the alkalies or 
sulphuric acid. 

Powder. — Grayish-brown or fight brown; stone cells of outer 
epidermis radially elongated, with thick walls and simple pores as 
described above; a layer of pigment cells; fixed oil, and aleurone 
grains. 

Constituents. — Two alkaloids, about 1 per cent. These are 
delphinine, which crystallizes in rhombic prisms and resemble 
aconitine in its physiological action; and staphisagroine, which is 
amorphous and insoluble in chloroform. The alkaloids delphisine 



222 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

and delphinoidine are probably decomposition products of delphinine. 
The seeds also contain 25 to 30 per cent of a fixed oil; an equal 
amount of proteins; 8 or 9 per cent of ash; and several resins. 

Allied Plants. — A number of other species of Delphinium have 
been investigated and found to have poisonous properties. 

Delphinium.— Larkspur Seed.— The seeds of the field lark- 
spur, Delphinium Consolida (Fam. Ranunculacese), a common annual 
herb, widely distributed throughout Europe and somewhat natural- 
ized in the eastern United States. The dried seeds are replacing 
Staphisagria to some extent. They resemble the latter in form, but 
are of a black or blackish-brown color and about 2 mm. in 
diameter. The constituents appear to be identical with those 
of Staphisagria. 

The tall larkspur (Delphinium urceolatum) is common to the 
stock ranges of the Western States, and cattle grazing in these terri- 
tories become poisoned by eating it. The plant is said to lose its 
toxic properties after it has flowered. The low larkspur has the 
same poisonous properties as the former. In case of poisoning, it 
is customary to keep the animal's head erect and to give hypodermic 
injections of physostigmine and whiskey. 

Pulsatilla. — The entire herb of Anemone Pulsatilla, A. pra- 
tensis, and A. patens (Fam. Ranunculacese), perennial herbs indig- 
enous to central and southern Europe. The entire herbs are gathered 
in the early spring, when the flowers are in bloom, and carefully 
dried. It should be kept in air-tight containers. Pulsatilla deterio- 
rates with age. 

Description. — Leaves radical, long petioled, 2 or 3 parted or 
pinnately-cleft, the lobes linear and acute; flowers solitary on long 
scapes and subtended by a pinnately parted involucre of 3 sessile 
leaves; the flowers consist of large showy sepals, which in A. Pul- 
satilla and A. patens are of a light violet or blue color, and in A. 
pratensis a dark blue; stamens numerous, being as long as the petals 
in A. pratensis and much shorter in A. Pulsatilla; pistils numerous, 
becoming in fruit long, plumose, flattened achenes; odor slight, but 
when fresh penetrating; taste very acrid. For illustrations of leaves, 
flowers and fruits, see Kraemer's Applied and Economic Botany, 
Fig. 359. 

Powder. — Grayish-green; fragments of epidermis with undu- 
late-polygonal cells and elliptical stomata; non-glandular hairs 
numerous, unicellular, from 0.230 to 2.5 mm. in length and from 
CO 10 to 0.020 mm. in diameter, with very thick walls and narrow 
lumina; parenchyma cells with microcrystals. 



GOLDTHREAD 



223 



Constituents. — An acrid volatile oil, the principal constituent 
of which is a camphor (anemonol). The latter is easily decomposed 
into anemonin, which on fusion becomes exceedingly acrid. Sim- 
ilar principles are found in other species of Anemone as well as in 
certain species of Ranunculus (buttercup) and in Clematis vitalba 
of Europe. 




Fig. 98. — Delphinium Staphisagria. Plants grown from the commercial drug 
and showing the palmately lobed leaves, and the terminal raceme of blue 
flowers. — After Newcomb. 



Coptis. — Goldthread. — The entire plant of Coptis trifolia 
(Fam. Ranunculacese), a low perennial growing in moist woods and 



224 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

swamps of northeastern United States and Canada, extending to 
Alaska. 

Description. — In loose matted masses consisting of a nearly equal 
mixture of the filiform, orange-colored rhizomes and pressed leaves, 
having a slight odor and bitter taste. Rhizomes wiry, cylindrical, 
irregularly curved, from 5 to 20 cm. in length and about 0.3 mm. in 
thickness, internodes about 15 mm. in length, nodes with a distinct 
elliptical scar on the upper surface and numerous dark brown hair- 
like roots on the lower surface. Leaves radial, ternately divided 
and frequently attached to the upper portion of the rhizome; peti- 
oles from 2 to 6 cm. in length; leaflets coriaceous, broadly obovate, 
nearly sessile, about 15 mm. in length; base cuneate; margin 
obscurely 3-lobed and sharply toothed; upper surface dark green 
and shining, veins prominent; lower surface light green and veins 
depressed. Flowers if present, small, whitish or light brown. Fol- 
licles divergent, membranaceous and enclosing a few small 
seeds. 

Powder. — Yellowish-green; starch grains numerous, mostly 
single, spheroidal, from 0.003 to 0.010 mm. in diameter; epidermal 
cells with wavy vertical walls and broadly elliptical stomata; frag- 
ments of the nerved scales, from the nodes of the rhizome, com- 
posed of cells with yellowish walls; leaf parenchyma cells containing 
green plastids; few, simple thick- walled hairs, from the midrib of 
the leaf, 0.035 mm. to 0.075 mm. in length; elongated epidermal 
cells from the roots having yellowish walls and filled with reddish 
contents; fragments of epidermal and sub-epidermal cells from the 
rhizome, similar to those from the root, but without reddish contents, 
often filled with yellowish contents; groups of elongated parenchyma, 
about 0.060 mm. in length and about 0.010 mm. in width, many of 
the cells being filled with starch grains; tracheae with bordered pores 
or spiral markings about 0.020 mm. in width; occasional narrow, 
thin-walled, porous sclerenchymatous fibers. An infusion prepared 
by placing 5 gm. of the powdered drug in 50 c.c. of cold water and 
allowing to stand for a few minutes with occasional stirring and then 
filtering gives a golden yellow colored solution. — Newcomb. 

Constituents. — Two alkaloids, berberine and coptine, the latter 
being crystalline and becoming purple on the addition of sulphuric 
acid and warming. Ash, 6 to 8 per cent. 

Radix Coptidis. — Coptis Root. — The dried rhizome of Coptis 
anemonaefolia and of several other species of Coptis (Fam. Ranun- 
culacese). The drug is official in the Pharmacopoeia of Japan. The 
rhizome is tuberculate, more or less curved, about 4 cm. in length 



BLACK HELLEBORE 225 

and from 1 to 5 mm. in thickness ; externally grayish-yellow, bearing 
at the crown the remains of the leaf bases and beset with numerous 
thin roots; fracture short, fibrous; inner surface with a dark orange 
colored cortex, a pale yellow wood, and a large hollow pith; inodor- 
ous; taste bitter. 

Helleborus Niger. — Black Hellebore. — The rhizome and 
roots of the Christmas or New Year's Rose, Helleborus niger (Fam. 
Ranunculacese) a perennial herb indigenous to the forests of the east- 
ern and southern Alps and also cultivated. It produces pinkish 
flowers during the winter, or very early in the spring, long before any 
other plant flowers. 

Description. — Rhizome horizontal, with numerous short, knotty 
branches and moderately long roots; from 2 to 8 cm. in length and 
0.5 to 4 cm. in diameter; externally grayish- or brownish-black, 
upper surface with numerous stem bases and depressed circular 
scars, under and side portions with numerous root bases; fracture 
short and mealy; internally light yellow, showing a number of broad 
wood wedges; odor distinct; taste bitter. 

Roots from 0.5 to 6 cm. in length and from 2 to 3 mm. in thick- 
ness; yellowish or dark brown, with a thick light brown cortex and 
a narrow central, porous, yellowish wood. 

Inner Structure. — An epidermal layer consisting of reddish- 
brown thick-walled cells ; cortex made up of about 30 rows of starch- 
bearing parenchyma, having very thick walls; leptome in the form 
of broad plates near the cambium; xylem in long wedges consisting 
mostly of porous tracheae surrounded by wood parenchyma; med- 
ullary rays from 10 to 20 cells in width and resembling the paren- 
chyma cells of cortex and pith. In the parenchyma cells there also 
occurs a fixed oil, and a few secretion cells having a colorless or 
slightly yellowish balsamic substance. Tracheae often filled with a 
reddish-brown amorphous substance. In the epidermal layer of 
the root the outer walls are yellowish-brown, considerably thickened 
and lamellated; cortex of starch-bearing parenchyma and light 
yellowish oil secretion cells; the stele is 5-rayed, consisting mostly 
of small tracheae. 

Constituents. — Two crystalline glucosides: helleborin, a narcotic 
poison with a burning taste, and helleborein, a cardiac stimulant and 
having a sweetish taste. The former gives a violet red color with 
concentrated sulphuric acid and the latter a deep violet color with 
the same reagent. The drug also contains a volatile oil, two acrid 
resins, an acrid fixed oil, aconitic acid and gallates of calcium and 
potassium. 



226 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

A _-^^=^=^ fc VmX — \ D 







Fig. 99. — Coptis. A, transverse section of peripheral portion of a stretched 
internode in the rhizome; Ep, epidermis; C, cortex. B, transverse section 
of rhizome: C, cortex; End, endodermis; P, pericycle; L, leptome; H, 
the xylem or vessels. C, section of same internode as in A and B showing 
the libriform or wood fibers (H) between the two arches of collateral mestome- 
bundles. D, transverse section of a root; Ep, epidermis; Ex, exodermis; 
C, cortex; End, endodermis; P, pericycle; L, leptome; H, hadrome. E, 
transverse section of a leaflet: Ep, the epidermal cells of the ventral surface; 
Ed, epidermal cells of the lower or dorsal surface; P, palisade cells; Pn, 
loose mesophyll or dorsal pneumatic tissue; St, stereome on the leptome- 



HELLEBORE 227 

Helleborus Viridis. — Radix Hellebori Viridis, Rhizoma Helle- 
bori Viridis, or Green Hellebore. — The rhizome and roots of 
Green Hellebore or Christmas Flower, Helleborous viridis (Fam. 
Ranunculacese), a perennial herb indigenous to central and 
southern Europe and naturalized to some extent in the Middle 
Atlantic States. 

Description. — Rhizome, horizontal or oblique, with numerous 
short branches and brittle roots; from 3 to 6 cm. in length and about 
1 cm. in thickness; outer surface blackish-brown, annulate from leaf- 
scars, upper surface with stem bases about 1 dm. in length; fracture 
horny; bark thick, grayish-white and xylem with from 6 to 16 yel- 
lowish wood wedges; odor slight, when fresh, penetrating; taste 
bitter, becoming acrid. Roots about 2 mm. in diameter, with a 
thick cortex and a 4-rayed central xylem. 

Inner Structure. — Epidermis of brownish cells with strongly 
thickened outer walls; a layer of collenchyma; primary cortex of 
tangentially elongated starch-bearing parenchymatous cells; inner 
bark with the strands of leptome separated by broad medullary 
rays; wood consisting of radial rows of short reticulate tracheae, 
surrounded by thin-walled wood-parenchyma and separated by broad 
medullary rays; pith cells resembling those of cortex. Roots having 
a starch-bearing cortical parenchyma, an endodermis, a thin-walled 
pericycle and collateral vascular bundles. Starch grains small, 
spheroidal; oil secretion cells colored yellow with solutions of potas- 
sium hydrate; resinous secretion cells colored orange-red with iodin. 
Cell walls of parenchyma more or less modified to pectin. 

Constituents. — It contains the same principles as H. niger, the 
helleborein apparently predominating. 

Literature. — Vogl, Pharmakognosie. 

Adonis. — Herba Adonidis, False Hellebore. — The over-ground 
plant of the spring-flowering Adonis, Adonis vernalis (Fam. 
Ranunculacege), a low perennial herb indigenous to eastern and 
southern Europe and more or less cultivated. The herb is gathered 
during April or May, at the time of flowering, dried and made into 
bundles. 

Description. — Stem, cylindrical, more or less branching, sharply 
wrinkled and somewhat hairy, with a few blackish-lanceolate leaf 
scales at the base. Foliage leaves, numerous, sessile, clasping the 



side of a lateral vein. F, surface view of the dorsal or lower epidermis of a 
leaflet showing the stomata and foldings of lateral cell walls. — After Holm ? 
Merck's Report, 1911, p. 4. 



228 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

stem, smooth or slightly hairy, the lower palmately divided, the 
upper pinnately-compound, the ultimate divisions being narrowly 
linear and acute. Flowers mostly single, at the summit of the scape, 
about 3.5 cm. in breadth, pendulous, with a calyx consisting of 5 
ovate hairy sepals, a corolla of 10 to 20 lanceolate, nearly spatulate, 
yellowish petals, stamens indefinite, pistils numerous, forming in 
fruit a dense head of ovoid achenes; odor slight; taste bitter and 
slightly acrid. 

Inner Structure. — Leaves unifacial, the epidermal cells being 
longitudinally elongated and having wavy walls; the stomata, which 
are without neighboring cells, are deeply imbedded upon the lower 
surface. Fibrovascular bundles having tracheae with spiral thick- 
enings or marked with bordered pores and associated with narrow, 
lignified sclerenchymatous fibers. Non-glandular hairs, 1-celled, 
more or less curved and occasionally in the form of double hairs. 

Powder. — Grayish-green; numerous fragments of pith paren- 
chyma with a few simple pores, the cells attaining a length of 0.250 
mm.; groups of narrow sclerenchymatous fibers, mostly with lig- 
nified walls from 0.005 to 0.007 mm. in thickness and having few 
round or oblique simple pores; tracheae 0.017 mm. in width, with 
spiral thickenings or bordered pores, epidermal cells from the stem 
and petiole, elongated in surface view and associated with elliptical 
stomata, the latter 0.064 mm. in length; fragments of the epidermal 
tissue from the lamina of the leaf, composed of finely striated cells 
with wavy vertical walls, associated with broadly elliptical stomata, 
the latter attaining a length of 0.047 mm.; brownish-colored frag- 
ments from the scales at the base of the stem, composed of elongated 
cells with somewhat rounded ends and yellowish-brown walls; starch 
grains and calcium oxalate crystals are very few or wanting. — New- 
comb. 

Constituents. — Adonidin, a mixture of principles having the physi- 
ological action of Digitalis, and of which Picroadonidin, an amor- 
phous glucoside, is the cardiac acting principle. Also Adonidinic 
acid and a substance resembling Quercitrin. 

Adonis. — Herba Adonidis jEstivalis. — The overground plant 
of Adonis aestivalis (Fam. Ranunculaceae), an annual herb common in 
southern and central Europe. The plants are gathered in May or 
June at the time of flowering, and dried after removing the roots. 

The stem is nearly smooth, furrowed and in the upper portion, 
more or less branched ; the leaves are pinnately divided, the ultimate 
segments being linear and acute; the flowers are terminal, consisting 
of a 5-parted calyx, the sepals being narrow-lanceolate; corolla of 



ADONIS 



229 



5 to 7 petals, twice as long as the sepals, lanceolate-ovate, reddish or 
yellow and usually having at the base a black spot ; stamens indefinite, 
with brownish-red anthers; pistils numerous, forming in fruit a 
dense head of achenes and subtended by the remains of the calyx; 
achenes ovoid, compressed and pointed at the summit. 

The drug contains 0.215 per cent of a glucoside, which resembles 
adonidin, but is weaker in its physiological action. 




Fig. 100. — Podophyllum Emodi, a Himalayan plant now more or less cultivated 
and showing the long petiolate, deeply 3-lobed leaves and their strongly 
toothed margins. — Photographs of plants growing in Botanical Gardens, 
University of Minnesota. 

Allied Plants.— In Adonis microcarpa, growing in Sicily, occurs a 
principle resembling Adonidin. Also an ash, of which 10 per cent 
is completely soluble in hydrochloric acid, and an aqueous extract 
amounting to 32 per cent. 

Literature. — Zornig, Arzneidrogen. 



230 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



BERBERIDACE^:, OR BARBERRY FAMILY 

A small family of about 100 species of herbs and shrubs, growing 
mostly in temperate regions. The leaves are simple or compound, 
the flowers are either single or in racemes and the fruit is a berry or 
capsule. Among the anatomical characteristics the following are 
most prominent: The tracheae are usually marked with simple pores 
and the primary wood wedges are separated by broad medullary 
rays (Fig. 104). Calcium oxalate occurs in the form of aggregates or 
solitary crystals. There are no special secretion cells or glandular 




Fig. 101. — Lath-shade, affording partial shade, especially adapted for growing 
woodland plants, such as Podophyllum peltatum, Sanguinaria canadensis, 
Panax quinquefolium (Ginseng), etc. From Farmers' Bulletin 551, U. S. 
Department of Agriculture. 

hairs. A number of crystalline substances are present and some of 
these, as berberin, are very characteristic of the plants of this family. 
In the epidermal cells of certain species of Mahonia occur greenish 
or prismatic crystals of an organic substance. Globular bodies, 
resembling silica, have been found in the medullary ray cells of the 
petioles of Lardizabala. In the chloroplasts of the palisade tissues 
of Berberis vulgaris occur acicular or sphenoidal crystalloids. The 
non-glandular hairs are usually unicellular, in some instances they 



PODOPHYLLUM 



231 



consist of a chain of cells, the terminal one of which is filled with a 
yellowish or brownish amorphous substance. 

Podophyllum. — May Apple. — The rhizome of Podophyllum 
peltatum (Fam. BerberidaceaB), a perennial herb (Fig. 102) indigenous 
to eastern North America. The rhizome is colhcted late in summer 
and dried, after the removal of the rootlets. Russell obtained the 
greatest percentage of resin in the early spring-collected drug. Scott 
and Petry found the resin to vary in plants grown in different soils 
and different seasons of the year. Most of the commercial supplies 
come from the Central States. Both the leaves and the fruit appar- 




Fig. 102. — Top of fertile shoot of May apple (Podophyllum peltatum) having 
two large peltate, palmately-lobed leaves, in the axil of which arises the 
fleshy fruit, shown in longitudinal section and containing numerous truncate, 
ovoid seeds. 



ently contain a purgative resin similar to that found in the rhizome. 
The berry, which is known as May, Indian, hog or devil's apple, 
wild or ground lemon, and raccoon-berry, is generally considered to 
be edible, but several cases of poisoning from eating it have been 
recorded. 

Description. — Horizontal, nearly cylindrical, flattened, some- 
times branched, jointed, in pieces 3 to 8 cm. in length, internodes 
4 to 10 cm. in length, 5 to 9 mm. in diameter, nodes 7 to 18 mm. in 
diameter and 5 to 12 mm. in thickness; externally dark brown, 



232 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



longitudinally wrinkled or nearly smooth, with irregular scars of 
bud-scales, nodes annulate from remains of bud-scales, upper part 
marked with large circular, depressed stem-scars and sometimes 
with buds; numerous root-scars at and near the lower portion of 
the nodes; fracture short; internally lemon-yellow, bark 1 mm. in 




gfe 




Fig. 103. — Transverse section of podophyllum rhizome: E, epidermis; P, paren- 
chyma containing starch; S, sieve; C, cambium; T, tracheae. 

thickness, wood yellowish, 0.5 mm. in thickness, pith large, white; 
odor slight; taste somewhat bitter and acrid. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 103. 

Powder. — Light brown and with a pronounced and character- 
istic odor; starch grains numerous, spheroidal, polygonal or 2- to 



BERBERIS 233 

6-compound, the individual grains from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. in diam- 
eter, calcium oxalate crystals few, in rosette aggregates from 0.050 
to 0.080 mm. in diameter, and occasionally in raphides 0.030 to 0.090 
mm. in length; tracheae with simple pores or close annular and 
reticulate thickenings; fragments of starch-bearing parenchyma 
and reddish-brown cork cells. 

Constituents. — Resin (official as Resin of Podophyllum) 3.5 to 5 
per cent, consisting of two poisonous principles: (a) podophyllo- 
toxin, 20 per cent, occurring in white crystals that are sparingly 
soluble in water and yield on treatment with water podophyllic 
acid and picropodophyllin; and (6) picropodophyllin (an isomer of 
podophyllotoxin), which crystallizes in needles and is insoluble in 
water but soluble in 90 to 95 per cent alcohol. The resin also con- 
tains a yellow crystalline coloring principle resembling quercetin, a 
green fixed oil and podophyllic acid. The rhizome also contains a 
purgative resin, podophylloresin ; considerable starch, and some 
gallic acid. 

Allied Plants. — The rhizome of Podophyllum Emodi (Fig 
100), a plant growing on the lower slopes of the Himalayas, is large- 
and yields 11.4 to 12 per cent of resin, which consists of but hall as 
much podophyllotoxin as the resin obtained from P. peltatum. 

Literature. — Russell, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1918, 90, p. 8; Scott 
and Petry, Mich. Acad. Sci., 1919, xxi. 

Berberis. — Oregon Grape-root. — The rhizome and roots of 
Berberis Aquifolium (Fam. Berberidacese) , a low trailing shrub, 
which is indigenous to the Rocky Mountain region of the United 
States, extending into British Columbia and as far east as Nebraska. 
Berberis should be kept in closed tin or glass containers, to which a 
few drops of chloroform should be added from time to time to pre- 
vent the development of larva?. 

Description. — In cylindrical pieces which vary from 8 to 12 cm. 
in length and 1.5 to 4.5 cm. in diameter; externally pale yellowish- 
brown to dark yellowish-brown, longitudinally wrinkled, with few 
root branches and occasionally rootlets ; hard and tough. Internally, 
bark dark brown, less than 1 mm. in thickness and rather soft; 
wood lemon-yellow, distinctly radiate, with narrow medullary rays; 
pith bright yellow, 2 or 3 mm. in diameter; slightly odorous; taste 
bitter. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 104. 

Powder. — (Fig. 105). Yellowish-brown, composed chiefly of 
fragments of wood-fibers associated with a few tracheae and med- 
ullary rays; wood fibers' yellowish, scarcely giving any reaction 



234 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



with phloroglucin and hydrochloric acid and with simple trans- 
verse pores; tracheae chiefly with bordered pores, occasionally 
reticulate; medullary rays, 2 to 3 cells wide, and in very long rows; 
starch grains not numerous, occurring in pith and medullary ray 
cells, single or 2- to 3-compound, the individual grains being irregu- 




Fig. 104. — Transverse section of Berberis. K, cork; C, cortex; P, parenchyma; 
Bf, bast fibers; L, leptome; Cam, cambium layer; W, wood fibers; T, 
trachea 1 ; M, medullary ray cells; S, starch grains. — Drawing by Haase. 



larly spheroidal and from 0.003 to 0.010 mm. in diameter, occasionally 
larger. 

A powder made from the worm-eaten drug shows upon the 
addition of iodin solution few or no starch grains, a large number of 



BERBERIS 



235 



fine particles exhibiting a Brownian movement and verf short frag- 
ments of the several tissues. 

Constituents. — Four alkaloids, namely, berberine; oxyacanthine, 
which acquires a yellow color in sunlight; berbamine, which is dis- 
tinguished from the above-mentioned alkaloids by being soluble 
in water; and another alkaloid whose properties have not been 
investigated. The drug also contains resin and considerable starch. 

Allied Plants. — Berberis vulgaris (European barberry), natural- 
ized in the United States, furnishes a drug which has similar prop- 
erties. Not only the rhizomes and roots, but also the stem and root 




Fig. 105. — Powder of Berberis. Tr, reticulate trachea?; Tb, trachea? with bor- 
dered pores; P, fragments of parenchyma cells; S, starch grains; Sc, scler- 
enchymatous fibers; C, fragments of cortical parenchyma with a yellowish 
amorphous content; M, starch-bearing medullary ray cells having yellowish 
walls. — Drawing by Haase. 

barks are employed, the root bark containing a xarger amount of 
alkaloids than that of the stem. 

The bark and root of Berberis asiatica of the Himalaya region and 
B. aristata of India are similarly employed, the latter containing 
about 2 per cent of berberine. 

The flowers of berries and Berberis Aquifolium and B. vulgaris 
contain berberine, oxyacanthine, volatile oil, about 6 per cent of 
malic acid and 3.5 to 4.7 per cent of sugar. 



236 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

The alkaloid berberine is also found in Argemone mexicana 
(Fam. Papaveracese) and in the following members of the Ranun- 
culacese: Hydrastis canadensis, Coptis trifolia and Xanthorrhiza 
apiifolia. 

Caulophyllum. — Blue Cohosh. — The dried rhizome and roots 
of Caulophyllum thalictroides (Fam. Berberidacese), a perennial 
herb indigenous to the eastern United States and producing a thick 
rhizome and large ternately compound leaves. 

Description. — Consisting of rhizomes and numerous long, wiry, 
matted roots. Rhizome horizontal, with a few upright branches 
from 5 to 25 cm. in length and from 4 to 16 mm. in thickness; exter- 
nally grayish-brown to dark reddish-brown, slightly annulate from 
the leaf scars, the upper surface with numerous depressed scars or 
short stem bases; under and lateral portions with numerous grayish- 
brown or yellowish-brown branching roots; fracture short, fibrous; 
inner surface light grayish-brown, having a waxy luster and showing 
a thin bark with numerous small wood wedges and a large pith; 
odor slight, sternutatory; taste bitter and acrid. Roots wiry, much 
branched, nearly cylindrical, externally yellowish-brown to dark 
brown, longitudinally wrinkled, attaining a length of 3.5 dm., and 
having a diameter of 1 to 3 mm. ; fracture of bark short, wood tough; 
internally grayish-white consisting of a thick bark composed of 
starch-bearing parenchyma, and a 4-rayed xyiem. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 106. 

Powder. — Light brown; starch grains numerous from 0.003 to 
0.016 mm. in diameter, mostly single, somewhat spheroidal in shape; 
fragments of cork composed of cells about 0.050 mm. in diameter 
and having yellowish-brown walls; tracheae from 0.025 to 0.050 mm. 
in width, with bordered pores; sclerenchymatous fibers with strongly 
lignified walls; tracheids with bordered pores, and fragments of 
starch-bearing parenchymatous tissue. — Newcomb. 

Constituents. — A crystalline alkaloid, Methylcytisine (caul- 
ophylline); a crystalline glucoside, Caulosaponin (ieontin); a 
second saponin-like glucoside, Caulophyllosaponin ; a phytosterol 
glucoside, to which the name Citrullol has been applied; a phy- 
tosterol; a volatile oil; an enzyme; a reducing sugar; a resinous 
substance, and a mixture of fatty acids. 

Literature. — Holm, Merck's Report, 1907, p. 94; Power and 
Salway, Jour. Chem. Soc, 1913, p. 191. 



CAULOPHYLLUM 



237 




Fig. 106. — Caulophyllum. A, development of fruit and seeds. The seed forces 
its way through the young pericarp, the latter withers and the seeds mature, 
becoming globose and deep blue when ripe. B, transverse section of a secon- 
dary root, showing endodermis (End) with prominent Casparyan Spots; 
the pericambium made up of a single layer of thin-walled cells (P) ; a central 
hadrome on the other side of which is the leptome, each strand of which con- 
tains a proto-leptome cell (PL). C, transverse section of a secondary root, 
showing endodermis (End) ; pericambium (P) ; leptome (L) ; tracheae (H) ; and 
pith (Conj). D, transverse section of a secondary root showing the hyphse of 
one of the fungi. E and F, transverse sections of a mature stem showing epi- 
dermis (Ep) ; collenchyma (Coll) ; cells of cortex (C) ; stereome (St) in which 
occur large secretory ducts (S). G, transverse section of a young stem 
showing the origin of the secretory ducts; the nature of these has not been 
determined, although they seem to be characteristic of Caulophyllum. — 
After Holm. 



238 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



MENISPERMACE^, OR MOONSEED FAMILY 

A family of mostly tropical plants, being in the nature of climbing 
or twining, frequently woody vines. The leaves are entire or lobed, 
the flowers are small, white or green, and dioecious. The stems are 
characterized in having broad primary medullary rays and in the 
pericycle there is usually a continuous sclerenchymatous ring. The 
tracheae are porous and very wide and associated with tracheid-like 
wood fibers, i.e., possessing bordered pores. In certain of the genera 
in which the stem is thick and woody an anomalous structure is 
found consisting of several concentric rings of vascular bundles, 
which either completely encircle one another or are developed excen- 
trally; that is, more strongly on one side, as in Pareira. Calcium 
oxalate usually occurs in the form of small rod-shaped or acicular 
crystals, sometimes in aggregates or large solitary crystals. Both 
glandular and non-glandular hairs may be present and peculiar hyda- 
thodes, i.e., water-absorbing and water-excreting organs are observed 
situated among the trichomes in Anamirta cocculus. Elongated 
secretory sacs occur in the stems and petioles of Cissampellos, Jate- 
orhiza and Anamirta. A sub-epidermal mucilaginous layer occurs 
in a number of species. 

Menispermum. — Yellow Parilla or Canada Moonseed. — The 
dried rhizome of Menispermum canadense (Fam. Menisperma- 
ceae), a high-climbing vine indigenous to northern United States 
and Canada and having broadly ovate, cordate and 3- to 7-lobed 
leaves. The flowers are in panicles and the fruit is a bluish-black 
berry. The rhizome is gathered, cut into convenient pieces and 
dried. 

Description. — Rhizome horizontal, cylindrical, much branched, 
attaining a length of 1 or 2 M. and having a diameter from 2 to 
20 mm.; externally j^ellowish to dark brown, longitudinally wrink- 
led and somewhat scaly, having upon the upper surface at the nodes 
a central bud in a nearly circular overground stem-scar, and scat- 
tered roots arising from all portions of the rhizome; fracture of bark 
short, wood tough and very fibrous; inner surface yellowish-white 
with a thin bark, a broad porous radiating-wood, and a white pith 
which is frequently hollow in the larger pieces; inodorous; taste 
bitter and somewhat sweetish. Roots cylindrical, more or less 
branching, from 1 to 10 cm. in length and from 0.5 to 2 mm. in diam- 
eter, dark brown, tough, wiry. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 107. 



MENISPERMUM 



239 



Powder. — Very light brown; tracheae from 0.030 to 0.150 mm. 
in width, marked with slit-like simple pores or with elliptical bordered 
pores, frequently with the transverse walls remaining; wood fibers 
narrow, strongly lignified and with numerous large simple pores 
and frequently tracheid-like, i.e., possessing bordered pores; bast 
fibers long, narrow, with relatively thin, strongly lignified walls 
marked by simple oblique pores; stone cells mostly cubical and with 
rather thin, porous walls; starch-bearing medullary ray cells resem- 
bling the parenchyma of cortex and pith, the latter being composed, 
however, of a number of larger cells, the walls of which are more or 




Fig. 107. — Menispermum. Transverse section through rhizome; E, epidermis; 
K, sub-epidermal cork; C, cortex; B, bast fibers; S, sieve; ST, stone cells; 
CA, cambium; T, large trachea) or vessels; W, wood fibers; M, medullary 
ray cells; P, pith. 

less broken; starch grains mostly single, spheroidal and from 0.002 
to 0.012 mm. in diameter; epidermal cells elongated and with nearly 
straight, yellowish slightly porous walls; few yellowish-brown cork 
cells, usually with adhering yellowish epidermis. 

Constituents. — ic contains a bitter alkaloid, menispine, berberine 
and starch. In addition it contains the alkaloid oxyacanthine, which 
is also found in Berberis vulgaris of Europe and the West Indies. 



240 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Calumba. — Columbo. — The root of Jateorhiza palmata (Fam. 
Menispermacese), a perennial herbaceous climber, native of the forests 
of eastern Africa. The large, fleshy roots are collected in the dry 
season, cut into transverse pieces, dried and exported by way of 
Zanzibar and Bombay. 

Description. — In nearly circular or elliptical disks, sometimes 
irregularly bent, 2 to 5 cm. in diameter, 2 to 10 mm. in thickness; 
bark externally yellowish-green or dark brown, wrinkled; fracture 
short, mealy; internally, radiate, yellowish-green, collateral wood 
bundles forming a concentric zone, bark 4 to 6 mm. in thickness, 
cambium zone distinct, center either depressed or more or less prom- 
inent; odor slight; taste bitter and aromatic. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 108. 

Powder. — Greenish-brown, grayish-yellow or bright yellow starch 
grains numerous, mostly single, occasionally 2- to 3-compound, the 
individual grains from 0.003 to 0.085 mm. in the long diameter, 
ovoid, ellipsoidal, frequently very irregular, slightly lamellated, with 
excentral linear, x-shaped or branching clefts; stone cells few, but 
very characteristic, having irregularly thickened, strongly lignified, 
coarsely porous walls and containing one or more prisms of calcium 
oxalate from 0.010 to 0.030 mm. in length or numerous small, sphe- 
noidal microcrystals; fragments with tracheae few, the latter with 
reticulate thickenings, or bordered pores, and associated with wood- 
fibers having long, oblique, slit-like pores. 

Constituents. — Two yellowish alkaloids, closely resembling ber- 
berine and varying from 0.98 to 1.38 per cent in the bark and 1.02 
to 2.05 per cent in the wood. To one of these bases the name colum- 
bamine has been given. Calumba also contains a volatile oil 0.056 
per cent, starch about 35 per cent, pectin 17 per cent, resin 5 per cent, 
calumbic acid, calcium oxalate, mucilage, and yields 6 per cent of 
ash. 

Substitutes. — Various substitutes for calumba have been offered, 
but these are free from starch, or they may contain tannin, as Amer- 
ican columbo, the root of Frasera carolinensis (Fam. Gentianacese), 
an herb indigenous to the eastern United States. This root formerly 
occurred in the market in transverse disks somewhat resembling 
calumba, but without the radiate structure. It contains a larger 
amount of a yellow coloring principle and less gentiopicrin than 
gentian. 

Adulterants. — Calumba has been adulterated with the roots of 
Tinospora Bakis of tropical Africa and Coscinum fenestratum 
(both of the Fam. Menispermacese) , the latter growing in India. 



COCCULUS 



241 



The disks are woody, the center being prominent and not depressed, 
and the ash varies from 11.9 to 16.6 per cent. 

Cocculus. — Cocculus Indicus, Fructus Cocculi or Fish Berries. 
— The dried fruit of Anamirta Cocculus (Fam. Menispermaceae), 
a woody climber growing in the mountainous woods of south- 
eastern Asia. The berries are commonly used by the natives to 




Fig. 108. — Calumba: A, transverse section showing bark (R), cambium (C), 
and wood (H), wood fibers (H), tracheae (g), periderm (Pe) and sieve (s); 
B, longitudinal section of periderm showing parenchyma (p), small-celled 
cork (k) and large-celled cork (A/); C, transverse section near cambium 
showing tracheae (g, g), intermediate fiber (i), cambium (c), parenchyma (p) 
and sieve cell (s); D, stone cell from the periderm containing calcium oxa- 
late; E, lamellated starch grains. — After Meyer. 



stupefy fish, thus making it possible to catch them by hand. The 
fruits when ripe are of a reddish color and are removed from their 
stalks and dried. The drug seems to deteriorate with age, and those 
fruits which are of a dark color, having the seeds well preserved are 



242 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



preferred. It is shipped to Calcutta and Bombay, thence to London, 
from which it is distributed. 

Description. — Nearly spheroidal or ovoid, subreniform, from 
0.5 to 10 mm. in length; externally grayish- to blackish-brown, 
wrinkled, the summit and base separated by a narrow and shallow 
sinus, the former being somewhat acute and the latter marked by a 
depressed, circular stalk-scar, sometimes marked by a slight ridge 





0f 











Fig. 109. — Original packages of Colurabo (Calumba). After a photograph by 

Parke, Davis & Co. 



or a narrow, yellowish, thread-like, fibrous separable band extend- 
ing over nearly the entire circumference of the fruit; pericarp about 
1 mm. in thickness, consisting of an outer grayish-brown fibrous 
layer, and an inner light yellow layer made up of sclerenchymatous 
fibers which completely surround a single reniform seed; pericarp 
inodorous and tasteless; seed oily and intensely bitter. 



PAREIRA 243 

Inner Structure. — Epicarp of a single row of nearly cubical 
cells; a broad layer of thin-walled tangentially elongated cells, 
having thin, brownish walls and a brownish granular content, the 
latter becoming reddish-brown with solutions of the alkalies; a layer 
of reddish-brown elongated cells in among which are distributed the 
\ small fibro vascular bundles; a few rows of light yellow, porous cells; 
endocarp composed of thick-walled, strongly lignified sclerenchy- 
matous fibers which ramify among each other; endosperm of large 
polygonal cells, having thin walls and containing an oily cytoplasm 
and large protein grains. In the cells of the endosperm and in large 
diaphragms formed by the separation of the cells, occur small acicular 
or prismatic crystals, frequently united to form aggregates. These 
crystals are of the fixed oil and are insoluble in water and dilute 
acids, but soluble in ether and solutions of the alkalies. 

Constituents. — The seeds contain 1.5 per cent of Picrotoxin 
(cocculin), a neutral principle which forms colorless, inodorous 
prisms, having a bitter taste and very toxic properties. From 11 
to 25 per cent of a fixed oil consisting chiefly of stearic and oleic acids. 
They also contain small quantities of resin, wax, gum and starch. 
The pericarp contains 2 tasteless, non-toxic, crystallizable alkaloids, 
viz., menispermine and taramenispermine. 

Pareira. — Pareira Brava. — The root of Chondrodendron tomen- 
tosum (Fam. Menispermacese), a perennial climber indigenous to 
Brazil and Peru. The commercial article is exported from Rio 
Janeiro. 

Description. — (Fig. 110.) Nearly cylindrical, more or less tor- 
tuous, cut into pieces up to 20 cm. in length, and varying from 1 to 6 
cm. in diameter; externally brownish-black to blackish-brown with 
tran verse ridges and knot-like projections and occasionally fissures, 
and longitudinally wrinkled or even furrowed; hard, heavy and 
tough; when freshly cut having a waxy luster; the transverse sur- 
faces exhibiting several successive excentral and distinctly radiate 
concentric zones of projecting secondary fibrovascular bundles, 
each 2 to 4 mm. wide and separated by distinct concentric zones of 
parenchyma and stone cells; odor slight; taste very bitter. 

The pieces of stem which are sometimes admixed with the drug 
and which should be rejected are deeply furrowed, usually covered 
with grayish foliaceous patches of lichens bearing their blackish 
apothecia, and are more of a grayish-yellow color internally, dis- 
tinctly woody and without a waxy luster. 

Inner Structure. — Transverse sections show an anomalous struc- 
ture, consisting of eight or more concentric or excentric rings, each 



244 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

made up of distinctive tissues as follows: (1) Alternate rings or zones 
composed of wood-wedges having large trachea?, surrounded by 
wood fibers and separated by broad starch-bearing medullary rays; 
each wood-wedge also has at the periphery a semicircular strand of 
leptome. (2) Alternate rings or zones of starch-bearing parenchyma 
marked upon the inner face by a nearly closed ring, of stone cells. 
Periderm consisting of a number of layers of narrow blackish-brown 
cork cells and having beneath usually a distinct phellogen layer. 

A distinct pit is absent in the root and only occurs in the stem 
which otherwise has a structure resembling the root. 




Fig. 110. — Photographs of typical specimens oi true Pareira, the pieces in trans- 
verse section showing concentric rings of fibrovascular tissue. 

Powder. — Dark brown or yellowish-brown starch grains numer- 
ous, mostly single, occasionally unequally 2- to 4-compound, the 
individual grains ellipsoidal, spheroidal, or oblong, varying from 
0.005 to 0.020 mm. in diameter and occasionally with clefts or irreg- 
ular markings; fragments of long wide trachea?, marked mostly 
with numerous slit-like pores and associated with long thick-walled 
porous and strongly lignified wood fibers; stone cells in small groups 
with thick walls and numerous radiating pores; fragments of paren- 
chyma filled with starch grains, those of the root being thick-walled, 



PAREIRA 245 

strongly lignified and provided with large longitudinal elliptical 
pores; occasional fragments of blackish-brown cork. 

Constituents. — An alkaloid pelosine (cissampeline) about 1 per 
cent, somewhat resembling berberine in bebeeru bark (Nectandra 
Rodisei, one of the Lauraceae, and buxine in box wood (Buxus semper- 
virens, one of the Sapindacea?) ; starch, tannin, wax, ash 4 to 5 per 
cent. 

Substitutes. — Other roots are frequently substituted for genuine 
pareira brava, which are no doubt derived from other menisperma- 
ceous plants; these roots are of a brownish color, possess numerous 
concentric zones of fibrovascular bundles, and do not have a waxy 
luster when cut. 

Falsa Pareira is obtained from a related species (Cissampelos 
Pareira), growing in South America, West Indies and East Indies. 
The root is somewhat flattened, externally dark brown, internally 
yellowish-brown, free from the concentric zones of wood bundles, 
and contains about 0.5 per cent of pelosine. 

The stems of Chondrodendron tomentosum are also sometimes 
found in the drug; these are more woody, possess a distinct pith and 
are marked externally by the apothecia of lichens. 

The roots of several other plants of this family are used as sub- 
stitutes for pareira, among which may be mentioned Chondro- 
dendron platyphyllum of Brazil and Paraguay, and Stephania 
discolor of India. White Pareira is obtained from Abuta rufescens, 
the roots of which are whitish or pale yellow and very starchy. 
Yellow Pareira is obtained from A. amara. The root is bright 
yellow internally, very bitter and apparently contains alkaloids 
resembling beberine and berberine. 

Literature. — Holm, Merck's Rept., 1918, 27, pages 7 and 60. 



MAGNOLIACEiE, OR MAGNOLIA FAMILY. 

The plants are mostly trees or shrubs and are represented in the 
United States by the magnolias and tulip tree also called yellow pop- 
lar or white wood. The plants are characterized by having in the 
pericycle small isolated groups of bast fibers. The tracheae are 
marked either by simple pores, scalariform thickenings of bordered 
pores. The pith is frequently hollow, surrounded by more or less 
empty cells, those at the periphery being thick-walled and living. 
The stone cells are of various shapes, being not infrequently much 
branched as in magnolia. Calcium oxalate occurs in the form of 



246 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

small octahedral or prismatic crystals or in rosette aggregates, seldom 
in the form of large prisms. An important character is the presence 
of more or less spheroidal secretory cells which are distributed in 
among the parenchyma of the stem and leaves and contain either a 
volatile oil or resin. In the leaves they give rise to pellucid dots, 
which are apparent on holding the leaves to the light. 

Illicium. — Fructus Anisi Stellati, Chinese Anise or Star 
Anise. — The dried ripe fruit of Illicium verum Hook. f. (not Illicium 
anisatum L.), a tree of the Magnoliacese, which is indigenous to 
southeastern Asia and now extensively cultivated in southern China, 
French Indo-China, Japan, the Philippines and Jamaica. Most of 
the commercial supplies are shipped from Tonkin (Tongking) and 
are used in the manufacture of a volatile oil, which closely resembles 
the oil obtained from the fruits of Pimpinella Anisum and is recog- 
nized by most of the Pharmacopoeias as a source of true oil of anise. 
The carpels of the flower are erect, assuming a horizontal position 
after fertilization, and the fruit is collected usually when the follicles 
are more or less unequally developed. 

Description. — Fruit consisting of 6 to 11 (usually 8) outspreading 
boat-shaped follicles, arranged around the central axis or columella, 
and subtended by a short nearly cylindrical stalk. Carpels unequal, 
from 5 to 20 mm. in length and 5 to 12 mm. in height, broadly ovate, 
laterally compressed; basal portion attached to the columella, flat; 
°ummit acute and tapering to a nearly straight beak; outer surface 
reddish-brown, nearly smooth or rough wrinkled; inner surface 
light yellowish-brown, smooth and shiny and showing in the dehis- 
cent capsules a single seed, which is compressed-ovoid, from 0.005 
to 0.008 mm. in length, very smooth and shiny, marked at the pointed 
end by a distinct hilum-scar, and on the edge with a narrow raphe; 
odor and taste aromatic, resembling anise. 

Inner Structure. — Outer epidermal layer of the pericarp made 
up of cells with very thick, porous outer walls; the middle layer 
composed of brown parenchyma and enclosing numerous oil-cells, a 
few idioblasts and vascular bundles; an endocarp of a single layer 
of palisade-like stone cells. The seed is made up of an outer layer 
of very strongly thickened palisade-like stone cells, a broad layer of 
loose parenchyma having more or less thickened walls and surround- 
ing one or more rows of obliterated cells; the endosperm consists 
of polygonal cells, containing an oily cytoplasm and numerous 
aleurone grains; the latter vary from 0.010 to 0.026 mm. in diameter, 
and are made up of one or more globoids and a large cystolith-like 
globoid. In the columella occur a number of more or less branching 



ILLICIUM 247 

and thick-walled stone cells (astroclerotic cells), which are about 
0.220 mm. in length and 0.145 mm. in thickness. 

Powder. — Dark reddish-brown; palisade-like stone cells from 
0.3 to 0.6 mm. in length and from 0.020 to 0.050 mm. in width; 
isodiametric stone cells and irregularly branching forms (astro- 
stone cells) having thick lignified walls and branching pores; frag- 
ments of sclerenchymatous fibers with more or less irregularly thick- 
ened walls and simple pores; outer epidermal cells with striated 
cuticle; aleurone grains from 0.010 to 0.020 mm. in diameter, usually 
containing a number of globoids and a large cystolith-like crystalloid. 
The poisonous shikimmi fruit is distinguished by somewhat shorter 
palisade cells; somewhat rounded stone cells; the aleurone grains 
contain 2 or 3 globoids and a few large prismatic crystalloids; alco- 
holic solutions yield an oil with a disagreeable odor, and furthermore 
deposits upon evaporation numerous crystals of shikimminic acid. 
For illustration of stone cells consult Kraemer's Applied and Eco- 
nomic Botany, page 268. 

Constituents. — True Illicium yields a volatile oil consisting 
chiefly of anethol and small quantities of phellandrene, pinene, 
methyl chavicol, hydroquinone-ethyl-ether, and probably safrol. 
The pericarp yields from 5.3 to 5.65 per cent of volatile oil, while 
the seed yields only 1.7 to 2.7 per cent; the seed also contains 22.3 
per cent of a fixed oil and 2.6 per cent of a reddish-brown resin. 
The latter exists to the extent of 10 per cent in the pericarp. The 
drug also contains anisic acid, protocatechuic acid and shikimminic 
acid. 

Adulterants. — The fruits of Illicium religiosum (also known as 
I. japonicum and I. anisatum L.) are very poisonous and are obtained 
from trees which are extensively cultivated in Japan, especially in 
groves of Buddhist temples. The fruits are known in commerce as 
Japanese Star Anise, Shikimmi fruits or Skimmi fruits. They are 
readily distinguished by their odor, which is very different from anise 
and more nearly resembles that of such oils as cajuput, cardamom, 
sassafras or laurel. The taste is intensely pungent, becoming aro- 
matic, somewhat bitter and camphor-like. The carpels, of which 
there are usually 6 to 8, are mostly of uniform size, being somewhat 
smaller than true Illicium, the summit being acuminate and ter- 
minated by a short curved beak. The seeds are less compressed 
and are of a light yellowish-brown color. Among the anatomical 
characters which serve to distinguish Japanese star anise the follow- 
ing may be mentioned: (1) The absence of irregularly branching 
stone cells, the latter being usually circular in section and only 



248 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

slightly irregular in Japanese star anise. (2) The aleurone grains 
consist of one or two globoids and two or three distinct crystals, 
occasionally single aggregates from 0.020 to 0.025 mm. in diameter. 
The Japanese star anise yields 1 per cent of a volatile oil contain- 
ing eugenol, safrol and shikimmen, the latter being a terpene com- 
pound. It also contains shikimmin, which forms large crystals 
that are soluble in alcohol, but insoluble in water, and to which the 
poisonous properties are due. There has also been isolated a toxic 
alkaloid, skimmianin. An alcoholic solution of the carpels, upon 
evaporation, yields numerous crystals of shikimminic acid. 

MONIMIACE^) 

The plants are mostly tropical trees or shrubs having opposite 
leaves and cymose flowers. They are especially distinguished by the 
presence of oil secretion cells, which give an aromatic odor and a 
transparent dotting to the leaves (Fig. 111). These cells are found 
not only in the leaves, but are distributed among the parenchymatous 
cells of the axis. In some cases they are colored reddish-brown, 
due either to tannin or a resinous substance. A number of forms of 
non-glandular hairs occur, and these are of generic value. Calcium 
oxalate, when present, is in the form of small acicular or rhombo- 
hedral crystals, one or more occurring in the same cell; hippocrepian 
stone cells, i.e., in the shape of a horseshoe are found in the cortex 
of very many of the genera, and there is usually a continuous scleren- 
chymatous ring in the pericycle. Neither glandular hairs nor mucil- 
age cells are present in this family. 

Boldus. — Boldo. — The dried leaves of Peumus Boldus (Fam. 
Mommiacese) an evergreen tree indigenous to Chili. 

Description. — Broadly elliptical or ovate, 3 to 6 cm. in length, 
1 to 5 cm. in breadth; summit acute, rounded, emarginate; base 
acute or more or less rounded; margin entire, distinctly revolute; 
upper surface light green, with numerous small spherical projections, 
veins depressed; under surface brownish-green, veins very promi- 
nent, pubescent, those of the first order diverging at an angle between 
35 and 45 degrees and uniting with each other 3 to 4 mm. of the 
margin, surface between the veins minutely and coarsely papillose; 
petiole 3 to 5 mm. long; texture coriaceous, brittle; odor aromatic; 
taste aromatic and pungent. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 111. 

Constituents. — A volatile oil, 2 per cent; an alkaloid, Boldine, 
0.1 per cent, which is bitter, very slightly soluble in water and sol- 



BOLDO 



249 




Fig. 111. — Boldo. A, leaves showing branching veins and small circular glan- 
dular punctations; B, a stellate hair with thick transparent walls; C, 
transverse section through the midrib showing upper epidermis (Ue); hypo- 
dermis (C); palisade layers (Ps); mesophyll (Ms); oil reservoirs (Or); 
containing oil globules (0) ; cystolith (Cs) ; a stellate hair (H) ; stoma (Sa) ; 
bast fibers (Bf); tracheae (T); sieve (L); parenchyma (P); lower epidermis 
(Le); D, a stoma on the lower epidermis. — Drawing by Haase. 



250 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

uble in alcohol, ether and chloroform; a resinous substance* and 
tannic acid. 



LAURACEiE, OR LAUREL FAMILY 

A family of aromatic shrubs and trees, comprising about 1000 
species. They are mostly found in the tropics, although a few of the 
genera are rather common in the temperate regions. They have 
alternate leaves, small green or yellow flowers and their fruits are 
either drupes or berries. Oil secretion cells are found in all parts 
of the plant, giving them a distinct fragrance. These cells are usually 
spheroidal in shape, with suberized walls and usually contain a yel- 
lowish oil. Many of the plants also contain mucilage cells, and 
these may occur in the same parts of the plant where secretion cells 
occur, and it has been suggested that there is a relationship between 
the two. It is well known that in those varieties of cinnamon 
which are deficient in oil, that there is an increase in the number 
of mucilage cells and vice versa. The mucilage cells are usually 
somewhat elongated and are distributed in the palisade tissue of 
leaves and the cells of the inner bark and pith. Calcium oxalate 
occurs in the form of small acicular or spindle-shaped crystals. The 
hairs are non-glandular, unicellular and occasionally sclerenchy- 
matous. The stone cells of the inner bark are usually unequally 
thickened and frequently are U-shaped. 

Cinnamomum. — Cinnamon Bark. — The dried bark of the stem 
and branches of various species of Cinnamomum (Fam. Lauracese), 
trees indigenous to tropical Asia, where they are now extensively 
cultivated (Fig. 112) and from which three commercial kinds of bark 
are obtained: (1) Saigon Cinnamon, obtained from Cinnamomum 
Loureirii (?) and other species cultivated in Cochin China and other 
parts of China, and exported from Saigon; (2) Cassia Cinnamon, 
yielded by Cinnamomum Cassia, cultivated in the southeastern 
provinces of the Chinese Empire, and exported by way of Calcutta, 
and (3) Ceylon Cinnamon, collected from Cinnamomum zeylanicum, 
indigenous to and cultivated in Ceylon (Fig. 113). 

Saigon Cinnamon. — In bundles about 30 to 40 cm. in length, 
and 20 cm. in width, 10 cm. in thickness, weighing 1.5 to 2 K., and 
consisting of pieces varying in size and color from small brownish- 
black single quills to large, thick grayish-brown, transversely curved 
pieces. Pieces 6 to 30 cm. in length, 1.5 to 3 cm. in diameter; bark 
0.2 to 2 mm. in thickness; outer surface dark brown, longitudinally 
wrinkled, with grayish patches of foliaceous lichens, and numerous 



CINNAMON 



251 



lenticels; inner surface light brown, smooth; fracture short; thick 
inner bark separated from the very thin periderm by a layer of small 
stone cells; odor aromatic; taste mucilaginous, aromatic and pun- 
gent. 

Cassia Cinnamon. — In quilled pieces, usually shorter than 
those of Saigon Cinnamon, the periderm more or less removed, and 
the bark aromatic and somewhat astringent. 




Fig. 112. — A, flowering branch of Cinnamomum zeylanicum; B, leaf -bud of the 
same; C, leaf -bud of Cinnamomum Camphora. — A, after Berg and Schmidt; 
B. C, after Pax. 



Ceylon Cinnamon occurs in closely rolled double quills com- 
posed of numerous thin layers of the inner bark of the shoots; the 
odor is delicately aromatic, and very distinct from either Cassia or 
Saigon bark. 



252 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




CINNAMON 



253 



Inner Structure. — See Figs. 114, 115. 

Powder of Saigon Cinnamon. — Yellowish- or reddish-brown; 
starch grains numerous, single or compound, the individual grains 




Fig. 114. — Transverse section of Cassia cinnamon bark: k, cork; x, thick- walled 
cork cells; y, cork cells, the outer walls of which are thickened; phg, cork 
cambium; scl, stone cells; x, parenchyma cell with large pores; B, bast 
fibers; gR, short sclerenchyma; z, parenchyma separating the groups of 
sclerenchymatous tissue; pPh, protophloem; obi, collapsed sieve; Sch, 
mucilage canals; php, bast parenchyma; o, oil cells. — After Tschirch and 
Oesterle. 



being somewhat ellipsoidal or polygonal and from 0.003 to 0.020 
mm. in diameter; stone cells rather prominent, the walls being 



254 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



colorless, very irregular in shape, and contain either air or a reddish- 
brown amorphous substance; bast fibers from 0.300 to 1.50 mm. in 
length and usually in groups of from 2 to 20 with very thick and 
slightly lignified walls; numerous cellular, reddish-brown fragments 
in which the oil cells are not readily distinguishable. 




Fig. 115. — Radial-longitudinal section of China Cassia (Cinnamomum Cassia) 
bark; pr, parenchyma of outer bark; bp, parenchyma of the inner bark, 
some of the cells of which contain raphides; b, bast fibers; st, stone cells; 
sch, mucilage cells; s, sieve; m, medullary rays. — After Moeller. 



Powder of Cassia Cinnamon. — (Fig. 116). Dark brown; resem- 
bling that of Saigon Cinnamon, but usually with fewer cork cells 
and a larger number of sclerenchymatous cells and fibers. 

Powder of Ceylon Cinnamon. — Light- or yellowish-brown; 
starch grains numerous, either single or compound, the individual 
grains being spheroidal or polygonal, from 0.003 to 0.020 mm. in 
diameter; bast fibers from 0.300 to 0.800 mm. in length, usually 



CINNAMON 



255 



single, spindle-shaped with attenuated ends, the walls being very 
thick and but slightly lignified; colorless stone cells resembling those 
of Saigon Cinnamon; numerous cellular fragments with yellowish- 
brown walls or contents; calcium oxalate in raphides from 0.005 to 
0.008 mm. in length. 

The Powder of Cassia Buds (flowers of Cinnamomum Cassia) 
is characterized by numerous thick-walled, irregularly curved simple 
hairs; fragments of reticulate and scalariform tracheae; and broad, 
blunt bast fibers. 

Constituents. — The most important constituent is the volatile 
oil, which in Ceylon Cinnamon is delicately aromatic and is present 




Fig. 116. — Cassia cinnamon: st, stp, stone cells; pr, bp, parenchyma containing 
starch grains; bf, bast fibers; P, cork cells with lignified walls. Numerous 
simple and compound starch grains are shown at the left and among the 
fragments of tissues. — After Moeller. 



from 0.5 to 1 per cent, in Cassia from 0.93 to 1.64 per cent, and in the 
Saigon from 3 to 6 per cent, the latter bark being most pungent and 
aromatic. The oil of cinnamon consists in large part of cinnamic 
aldehyde (not present in the oil of the root bark) and other com- 
pounds, such as camphor, which is present in the oil from the root 
bark; safrol, which is found in the leaves; and eugenol, which is 
found in both leaves and stem bark and which gives the character- 
istic odor to Ceylon Cinnamon. 

Cinnamon also contains the hexatomic alcohol mannitol (cin- 
ramanin) giving the sweetish taste to the several barks; a tannin 
(3 to 5 per cent) somewhat resembling that in Quercus alba and 



256 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

found in greatest amount in Cassia bark and least in the Saigon 
variety; a bitter principle especially characteristic of Cassia bark; 
and a mucilage which may be the source, at least in part, of the vola- 
tile oil. 

Standard of Purity. — Cinnamon is the dried bark of cultivated 
varieties of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Breyne or of Cinnamomum 
Cassia (Nees) Blume, from which the outer layers may or may not 
been removed. 

Ceylon Cinnamon is the dried inner bark of cultivated varieties 
of Cinnamomum zeylanicum Breyne. 

Saigon cinnamon, Cassia, is the dried bark of cultivated varieties 
of Cinnamomum cassia (Nees) Blume. 

Ground cinnamon, ground cassia, is the powder made from cin- 
namon. It contains not more than 5 per cent of total ash, nor more 
than 2 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. — U. S. Dept. 
Agric. 

Allied Plants. — Batavia Cassia or Fagot Cassia is the bark of 
Cinnamomum Burmanni. In double quills, the larger sometimes 
enclosing smaller quills, 5 to 8 cm. in length, 5 to 15 mm. in diameter, 
bark 0.5 to 3 mm. in thickness; outer surface light- or reddish-brown, 
nearly smooth; inner surface dark-brown with occasional longitudinal 
ridges and depressed areas; fracture short; odor pronounced, aro- 
matic; taste aromatic and distinctly mucilaginous. It forms a shiny 
glutinous mass with water and yields with alcohol 11 to 17 per cent 
of an extract. A number of barks come into the market under 
the name of " Cassia bark." In fact, Cassia Cinnamon is frequently 
known as China Cassia, or Canton Cassia or Cassia lignea, all being 
synonyms for the same variety of bark. Saigon Cinnamon is also 
known commercially as Saigon Cassia. The barks of other species 
of Cinnamomum also find their way into market and are used as 
substitutes or adulterants of Cassia Cinnamon. These are bitter 
or nearly tasteless and are free from any aromatic properties. 

Clove bark is obtained from Dicypellium caryophyllatum (Fam. 
Lauraceae), a tree indigenous to Brazil. The bark comes in long 
quills, consisting of 6 to 10 pieces of bark. Externally dark brown 
or purplish-brown; fracture short, with a circle of whitish stone cells 
near the periderm; odor clove-like; taste mucilaginous and aro- 
matic, resembling cinnamon. 

A number of other products are also derived from species of Cin- 
namomum, as the immature fruits of C. Loureirii, which constitute 
the Cassia buds of the market. The latter are club- or top-shaped, 
5 to 10 mm. in diameter, with a short stem or pedicel, externally 



CAMPHOR 257 

dark brown, the 6-lobed perianth folded over the depressed and 
smooth ovary. The odor is aromatic; taste pungent, aromatic and 
astringent. Cassia buds yield a volatile oil containing cinnamic 
aldehyde, which resembles that of Cassia Cinnamon. 

Wild Cinnamon, the bark of Cinnamomum pedatinervum, a 
tree indigenous to the Fiji Islands, yields a volatile oil containing 
from 40 to 50 per cent of linalool and safrol, 15 to 20 per cent of a 
terpene; 1 per cent of eugenol, and about 3 per cent of eugenol- 
methyl-ether. 

Aromatic Powder. — Consisting of powdered saigon cinnamon, 
powdered ginger, crushed cardamom deprived of pericarps and 
powdered myristica. Light reddish-brown; with a strong distinct 
aromatic odor; consisting chiefly of the characteristic starch grains 
of Ginger, being ellipsoidal or ovoid, slightly beaked and from 0.005 
to 0.060 mm. in diameter; numerous yellowish-brown, brownish- 
red and occasional blackish fragments, the cellular structure of which 
is not distinct; occasional stone cells, the lumina being filled usually 
with a reddish-brown amorphous substance or containing air; occa- 
sional fragments with sclerenchymatous fibers, the walls being 
scarcely if at all lignified ; calcium oxalate crystals very few and only 
in the form of short raphides. 

C amphora. —Camphor. — A crystalline product deposited in 
the wood and present in the volatile oil occurring in Cinnamomum 
(Laurus) Camphora (Fam. Lauracese), a small tree indigenous to 
eastern Asia and cultivated in Formosa, Japan and other subtropical 
countries. It has been grown successfully in Florida and California. 
Camphor occurs as a crystalline deposit in lacunae or clefts in the 
stem, but occurs in larger quantities dissolved in the volatile oil. 
The latter exists to the greatest extent in the roots and the least in 
the leaves and twigs. Camphor arises as a product of the oxidation 
of the volatile oil. 

In the preparation of commercial camphor, the tree is cut down 
and the roots and lower portion of the trunk subjeoted to distillation. 
This is usually accomplished in the winter time when the camphor 
is deposited in greatest amounts. The product which is distilled 
consists of a granular and light reddish mass containing about 80 
per cent of camphor and 20 per cent of a volatile oil. It is collected 
in bamboo canes or tubs and sent from Formosa to Europe and 
America, where it is refined by sublimation. Japan and Formosa 
produce annually about 4,000,000 K. of camphor, a smaller quan» 
tity, about 120,000 K. being produced in the Chinese province, 
Fokein. About one-third of all the camphor produced is shipped 



258 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

to the United States. The oil of camphor is refined and those frac- 
tions having a specific gravity similar to that of true sassafras oil 
are sold under the name of artificial sassafras oil. 

Description. — Refined camphor occurs in commerce in large 
slabs, weighing from 1 to 5 K. It is composed of nearly colorless, 
crystalline, shining granules, which are somewhat oily in appearance, 
brittle and form a whitish powder, having a distinct penetrating 
odor, and a pungent, bitter and cooling taste. It is sublimable, 
forming hexagonal plates or prisms, which are very soluble in alcohol, 
ether, chloroform, petroleum ether, and carbon disulphide. One 
part of camphor is soluble in 1.5 parts of oil of turpentine; 4 parts 
of olive oil; and 1000 parts of water. It forms a liquid when rubbed 
with equal parts of any of the following substances: hydrated chloral, 
phenol, salicylic acid, salol, menthol, naphthol, pyrogallol, resorcin 
and thymol. 

Powder. — Whitish; glycerin mounts show irregular masses which 
gradually dissolve; nearly insoluble in water, but soluble in solu- 
tions of hydrated chloral, alcohol and fixed or volatile oils. On 
heating some of the powder on a microscopic slide and covering with 
a watch crystal, a sublimate is obtained, composed of radiating 
aggregates of feather-shaped crystals, which are isotropic. A drop 
of a solution of vanillin (1 in 100) and a drop of sulphuric acid added 
to powdered camphor produces immediately a yellow color, changing 
to red, then violet and finally blue. 

Constituents. — Camphor consists almost entirely of a dextro- 
gyrate modification of the saturated ketone, CqHigCO. Japan cam- 
phor contains less impurities than the Formosa variety. 

Adulterants. — To both crude camphor and the powder are some- 
times added 50 per cent of stearic acid. The adulterated article is 
incompletely soluble in 90 per cent alcohol. 

Allied Plants. — Borneo camphor or borneol is a product found 
in clefts of the wood of Dryobalanops Camphora (Fam. Diptero- 
carpaceae), a large tree indigenous to Borneo and Sumatra. The 
camphor is obtained by scraping the wood and not by distillation. 
It somewhat resembles true camphor, but is distinguished by being 
heavier than water, and not volatilizing at ordinary temperatures, 
and having a somewhat pungent taste. It is converted by nitric 
acid into true camphor. It should also be stated that true camphor 
when treated with reducing agents is converted into Borneo camphor. 
The latter is seldom seen in commerce on account of its high price. 
Sassafras. — Sassafras Bark. — The bark of the root of Sassa- 
fras variifolium (Fam. Lauracese), a tree indigenous to eastern 



SASSAFRAS 



259 



North America. The bark is collected in the early spring; or autumn, 
deprived of the periderm, and used either in the fresh or dried con- 
dition. 

Description. — In transversely curved or recurved, irregular, 
oblong pieces, 3 to 8 cm. in length, 10 to 30 mm. in diameter, 0.5 
to 3 mm. in thickness; outer surface light reddish-brown, nearly 




Fig. 117. — Cinnamomum Camphora. Young plant grown in greenhouse of 
Philadelphia College of Pharmacy from cuttings introduced into Florida 
by U. S. Department Agriculture, Washington, D. C, many years ago. 
The plant is an evergreen, very hardy, producing numerous aromatic roots, 
which soon work their way through the pots, which necessitates frequent 
transplanting. 

smooth, somewhat porous; inner surface distinctly striate, somewhat 
scaly; fracture short, soft, surface slightly porous; odor aromatic; 
taste somewhat mucilaginous, astringent and aromatic. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 118. 

Powder. — Light, reddish-brown; starch grains numerous, either 
single or 2- to 4-compound, the individual grains being more or less 



260 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Yiq, 118. Transverse section of root bark of sassafras: a, cork; b, oilcells; 

c tannin cells; d, medullary rays; e, bast fibers; /, cambium —After Bastin. 



SASSAFRAS 261 

spheroidal or polygonal and frequently with a distinct cleft and from 
0.033 to 0.020 mm. in diameter, some of the smaller or altered grains 
attaining a diameter of 0.030 mm.; bast fibers spindle-shaped, occa- 
sionally very irregular in outline, with sharply pointed ends, from 
0.150 to 0.-400 mm. in length, 0.025 mm. in diameter, and with very 
thick, strongly lignifiecl walls; parenchyma cells containing either 
starch grains or irregular } r ellowish-red masses of tannin and becom- 
ing bluish-black upon the addition of solutions of ferric chloride, 
fragments of wood few, with large, thin-walled tracheae marked by 
simple pores and associated with rather thin-walled wood-fibers. 
The stem bark contains groups of bast fibers and stone cells, and the 
parencrrymatous cells contain chloroplastids. 

Constituents. — -Volatile oil 5 to 9 per cent; tannin about 6 per 
cent; a reddish-brown altered tannin compound (sassafrid) about 
9 per cent; resin and starch. 

The principal constituent of the volatile oil is safrol. The oil 
from the leaves differs essentially in composition from that of the 
root bark, containing linalool and geraniol. 

Allied Plants. — Other plants of this family also yield a volatile 
oil containing safrol, as Beilschmiedia oppositifolia of Queensland 
and New South Wales; Mespilodaphne Sassafras and Nectandra 
Puchury-minor, both of Brazil. 

Sassafras Medulla. — Sassafras Pith. — The pith of young 
stems and branches of Sassafras variifolium (Fam. Lauracea?) a 
tree indigenous to eastern North America. The pith is collected 
late in autumn, after frost, and dried. 

Description. — In sub-cylindrical, often curved or coiled pieces 
from 2 to 10 cm. in length and from 2 to 5 mm. in diameter; very 
light in weight, externally whitish, occasionally with small fragments 
of wood adhering; fracture short; with a slight odor of sassafras; 
taste mucilaginous. 

Inner Structure. — For illustration of structure of walls, consult 
Kraemer's Applied and Economic Botany, p. 263. 

Transverse sections show that it consists of nearly isodiametric 
cells with large intercellular spaces, the walls being more or less 
lignified and provided with numerous simple pores; mounts made 
in water show the separation of a thin layer of mucilage from the 
inner walls of the cells, this being characterized by the gradual dis- 
appearance of the pores. The cells occasionally contain sphenoidal 
microcrystals of calcium oxalate. 

Constituents. — The principal constituent is the mucilage, which 
is not precipitated by alcohol; it also contains a trace of volatile oil. 



262 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

On macerating 0.5 gm. of Sassafras Pith in 25 cc. of cold distilled 
water for several hours and filtering through cotton, a mucilaginous 
solution is obtained which is not precipitated upon the addition 
of 1 cc. of alcohol. 

Coto — Cortex Coto Verus, Coto Bark.— The bark of an un- 
known tree growing in Bolivia and apparently belonging to the 
LauraceaB. 

Description. — In flattened or transversely curved pieces, from 
2 to 20 cm. in length and from 1 to 7 cm. in width, the bark from 7 
to 20 mm. in thickness; outer surface reddish-brown, occasionally 
with grayish patches of foliaceous lichens, nearly smooth or longi- 
tudinally fissured and occasionally with transverse clefts, the smooth 
bark being marked with large lenticular lenticels or large branch 
scars; inner surface very coarsely longitudinally striate; hard, and 
fracture very tough; fractured surface light reddish-brown, porous 
and showing numerous yellowish groups of sclerenchymatous cells 
and fibers; odor distinct, aromatic, somewhat camphoraceous ; taste 
aromatic and pungent. 

Inner Structure. — Numerous irregular layers of cork cells having 
a brownish amorphous content; a layer of tangentially elongated 
cells, those nearest the cortical phelloderm possessing strongly thick- 
ened side walls; a phelloderm layer of thick-walled more or less 
collapsed cells; secondary cortex composed of strands of phloem sep- 
arated by medullary rays which are from 2 to 3 cells wide. The 
phloem consists of (1) small groups of sclerenchymatous fibers which 
occur in tangentially elongated strands; (2) groups of stone cells 
similarly disposed and consisting either of isodiametric cells, very 
irregular branching forms, or elongated fibers; (3) a distinct leptome 
of collapsed cells and among which are distributed (4) numerous oil 
cells having a diameter of 0.040 mm. The cells of the medullary 
rays are in part metamorphosed to stone cells. Starch occurs in 
form of either single or compound grains, the individual grains being 
either spheroidal or ellipsoidal, and from 0.003 to 0.020 mm. in 
length. Small acicular crystals are also said to occur in the med- 
ullary ray cells. 

Constituents. — A pale yellow volatile oil, having an aromatic 
odor and pungent taste; a light yellow crystalline substance, cotoin, 
1.5 per cent, which is acrid and sternutatory, soluble in boiling water 
and alcohol, and which possesses the activity of the drug; also a 
soft resin; dicotoin; pseuclodicotoin ; paracotoin; tannic acid, and 
the following organic acids : formic, acetic and butyric. 



PAPAVER 263 

Para-Coto. — Cortex Goto Para, Para-coto Bark.— A bark of 
unknown origin and apparently derived from Palicurea densiflora 
(Fam. Rubiacese), a tree indigenous to Bolivia. It resembles Coto 
bark and has a grayish or whitish periderm. The fracture is not so 
splintery, the odor is less aromatic, and the taste not so pungent. 
It contains paracotoin, which resembles cotoin in its physiological 
action; also hydrocotoin ; protocotoin; methyl-hydrocotoin ; methyl- 
protocotoin, diperonylic acid and tannic acid. 

False coto bark is obtained from Cryptocarya pretiosa (Fam. 
Sapotaceae), a tree growing in the Amazon district. It occurs in 
pieces about 15 cm. in length, 5 cm. in width and 7 mm. in thickness; 
externally light brown and without cork; fracture short, fibrous; 
internally brown with yellowish groups of stone cells, which are 
arranged in radial rows, thus distinguishing this bark from true coto 
bark. The odor is slight, resembling cinnamon. It contains a 
brownish-yellow volatile oil, with an odor suggestive of cinnamon, 
but it does not contain any cinnamic aldehyde. It also contains 
0.145 per cent of an alkaloid. 

PAPAVERACE^), OR POPPY FAMILY 

A small family of about 200 species occurring most abundantly 
in north temperate regions. They are especially characterized by 
their milky and frequently yellowish colored latex, which arises either 
in laticiferous vessels or in special laticiferous sacs. The former 
are found in Papaver, and consist of tubes formed as a result of the 
fusion of cells in close proximity to each other, the dividing walls 
having become absorbed. The laticiferous sacs, which are present 
in Chelidonium, are either spheroidal or more or less cylindrical and 
elongated cells, having very thin walls and occur either isolated or 
arranged in longitudinal chains. The tracheae in this family are 
marked by simple pores. Calcium oxalate does not occur, except in 
Bocconia. Non-glandular hairs, when present, consist of a chain of 
cells. Glandular hairs have not been observed in this family. 

Papaver. — Papaveris Fructus, Papaveris Immaturi, Poppy 
Capsules. — The full-grown unripe fruits of Papaver somniferum 
and the varieties album and nigrum (Fam. Papaveracese). These 
are annual, herbaceous plants, indigenous to the countries bordering 
the eastern Mediterranean and extensively cultivated in warm and 
temperate zones. They occur in a great many forms and varieties, 
and the capsules of the white variety are usually gathered. It is 
cultivated for the drug Opium as well as the seeds, which contain a 



264 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

fixed oil. The commercial supplies are obtained from Asia Minor, 
Persia, Egypt, China, the East Indies and Europe. The capsules 
are collected in July when full grown, but still green, and contain 
their milky juice. They are carefully and rapidly dried over a low 
burning fire. 

Description. — Ellipsoidal, ovoid or depressed globular, from 
6 to 7 cm. in length and from 4 to 7 cm. in diameter; very light, 
weighing from 3 to 4 gm.; summit acute or somewhat rounded, 
occasionally depressed and crowned by the 12- to 18-rayed stigma, 
base usually tapering into the stalk; externally yellowish-brown or 
light brown, often marked with nearly circular bluish-black patches, 
smooth, except in the upper and lower portions, which are glaucous, 
also marked by slight ridges, indicating the dissepiments; unilocular, 
and containing numerous seeds; inner surface with numerous, thin, 
cartilaginous dissepiments, about 10 mm. in width, of a light yellow- 
ish-brown color and marked by numerous small, circular, brownish 
spots, representing groups of stone cells; fruit stalk from 10 to 15 mm. 
in length, cylindrical, contracted in the middle and spreading into 
the basal portion of the capsule ; internally with a large whitish pith ; 
inodorous; taste bitter and slightly astringent. Seeds (commonly 
known as Maw seeds), reniform, from 0.5 to 1 mm. in diameter, exter- 
nally yellowish-white, reticulate and with a small yellowish hilum 
scar; endosperm white and oily and enclosing a curved embryo; 
taste slight and oily. 

Inner Structure. — Epidermis of pericarp consisting of a layer of 
cells having strongly thickened outer walls and numerous stomata; 
hypodermis of one or more layers of tangentially elongated, thick- 
walled cells; a middle layer of thick-walled parenchyma and vas- 
cular bundles, the latter having spiral trachea?, latex tubes associated 
with the leptome and a ring of sclerenchymatous fibers; inner epi- 
dermis composed of tangentially elongated, thick-walled cells and 
depressed stomata; the placenta, triangular in section and con- 
taining numerous simple, more or less branching cells with large inter- 
cellular spaces. The seed coat consists of an epidermal layer com- 
posed of polygonal cells; a layer of thin-walled parenchyma cells 
containing numerous small microcrystals of calcium oxalate; a 
layer of strongly thickened somewhat spindle-shaped sclerenchy- 
matous fibers; several layers of either strongly thickened porous 
cells, or thin-walled cells, or small obliterated cells, some of which in 
the black poppy seeds contain a brownish pigment. The endosperm 
consists of thin-walled cells containing an oily cytoplasm and numer- 
ous small aleurone grains. 



PAPAVER 



265 



Powder. — Grayish-yellow; fragments of the epicarp composed 
of thick-walled polygonal cells, the cells of the outer layer, non-porous, 
about 0.050 mm. in diameter and with occasional stomata, the latter 
attaining a length of 0.035 mm. ; the cells of the inner layer of the 
epicarp often with numerous simple pores; portions of the soft 
spongy sarcocarp consisting of isodiametric or irregular parenchyma 
cells and branching latex tubes, the latter about 0.060 mm. in width 
of variable length and with thin non-porous walls; fragments of the 





Fig. 119. — Poppy Capsules grown in the gardens of the Pharmaceutical Institute 
of the University of Berlin in Dahlem, Germany. Two of the capsules 
grown from white seeds and showing the transverse incisions from which 
the milk juice exudes, forming irregular globular masses on the surface of 
the capsules. — Thorns, Ber. d. d. pharm. Ges., 1907, p. 31. 



inner wall of the pericarp and the outer wall of the placental tissue 
composed of polygonal or somewhat elongated cells, with porous 
walls 0.060 mm. in width, and attaining a length of 0.300 mm., the 
walls of the latter cells are often slightly lignified; spiral and annular 
tracheae 0.35 mm. in width, and reticulate tracheae 0.060 mm. in width; 
sclerenchymatous fibers and cells with simple or oblique pores few; 
starch grains very few, small and somewhat rounded; fragments 
of the reticulately pitted seed coat very few or wanting. — Newcomb. 



266 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Constituents.— From 0.13 to 0.36 per cent of a mixture of alka- 
loids consisting of morphine, codeine and narcotine. The upper 
portions of the fruits contain the largest percentage of alkaloids, and 
during ripening the amount of morphine decreases while the per- 
centage of codeine and narcotine increases. The fruits also contain 
narceine, papaverine, papaverosin and some of the other alkaloids 
of opium. There is also present meconic acid, citric acid, tartaric 
acid and wax; and ash from 10 to 15 per cent. 

Opium. — The dried milk-juice of the capsules of Papaver som- 
niferm (Fam. Papaveracese), an annual herb, probably indigenous 
to Asia, and now cultivated in Asia Minor, China, India, Persia and 
European Turkey. Experiments have been made both in this coun- 
try and Europe to cultivate the opium poppy, but so far these experi- 
ments have been unprofitable. Opium is obtained by making trans- 
verse, oblique or longitudinal incisions in the unripe capsule (Fig. 
119); the latex which exudes is collected when partly dry and made 
into a mass. The latter is enclosed in a covering of rumex or poppy 
leaves and further dried, subsequently being packed in bags with 
rumex berries to prevent the masses from sticking together. While 
there are a number of varieties of opium, that used in this country is 
principally from Turkey and is exported chiefly from Smyrna and 
Constantinople. There are two principal kinds of Smyrna opium, 
namely, Karahissar, which occurs in spherical, somewhat flattened 
masses, and Balukissar, which is in the form of flattened, plano- 
convex masses, both kinds being wrapped in poppy leaves, packed 
with Rumex seeds, and yielding about 13 per cent of morphine 
(Fig. 120). 

Turkey Opium. — In irregular, flattened, more or less rounded 
masses of variable size and weighing from 250 to 1000 grammes; 
externally grayish-brown, covered with remnants of poppy leaves 
and with occasional fruits of a species of Rumex; internally dark 
brown, granular, somewhat lustrous, more or less plastic when fresh, 
but becoming hard and darker on keeping; odor distinct, heavy; 
taste peculiar, bitter. 

Powder. — (Fig. 121.) Light brown; in glycerin mounts showing 
grayish-brown, irregular granular fragments, 0.035 to 0.40 mm. in 
diameter; little or no starch; thick-walled polygonal cells of epi- 
dermis of capsule ; epidermal cells of Rumex leaves (used in wrapping 
opium) somewhat polygonal on surface view, with elliptical stomata 
about 0.070 mm. in length, having a narrow opening; fragments of 
wings of Rumex fruits (used to prevent cohesion of opium masses), 
with prominent, brown fibrovascular tissue composed of spiral 



OPIUM 



267 



tracheae and narrow sclerenchymatous fibers; parenchyma of seeds 
colorless, containing air; epidermal cells with large, elliptical, oblique 
pores; taste bitter; sparingly soluble in water or potassium hydrate 
solution. The Smyrna opium has the largest number of epidermal 




Fig. 120. — Original packages of Opium imported from Turkey. After a photo- 
graph by Parke, Davis & Co. 



cells of capsule, the Indian few or none and the Persian very few. 
The Persian always has an appreciable amount of starch. 

Powdered opium not infrequently shows fragments of Cacao 
shells and crystals of sugar of milk, these being used as diluents in 
bringing high grades of opium down to the official standards. 



268 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Constituents. — A large number of alkaloids have been obtained 
from opium and its extracts, some of which are, no doubt, alteration 
products of the alkaloids naturally occurring in the drug; the most 
inportant of these is morphine, which exists to the extent of 5 to 22 
per cent, the largest amount being obtained from Turkey opium, 
the Persian ranking next, and the smallest amount being obtained 
from Indian opium. 




Fig. 121. — Powdered opium: M, protoplasm-like latex, which constitutes the 
greater proportion of the powder; S, St, thick- walled cells of capsule; A, 
needle-shaped crystals which sometimes separate in chloral-iodin mounts. 
The following Rumex tissues are also generally present: E, epidermal cells 
of leaf; B, bast fibers, and T, tracheae from Rumex fruit; C, crystals (prob- 
ably of calcium oxalate). 



Morphine is a derivative of 3-6 dioxy-phenanthryleneoxide, 
which crystallizes from alcoholic solutions in orthorhombjc prisms 
or needle-like crystals, containing one molecule of water of crystalli- 
zation, which it gradually loses at 75° C. It forms a number of 
crystalline salts of which the sulphate is here only described. There 
are at least two different morphine sulphates, the neutral salt con- 
taining 5 molecules of water of crystallization being the article usually 



MORPHINE 



269 



found in commerce. It readily loses some of its water of crystalliza- 
tion even at a temperature of 30°-40° C. At 25° C. one part of 
morphine sulphate is soluble in 15.3 parts of water; 465 parts of 
alcohol; it is nearly insoluble in ether or chloroform. The crystals 
formed on a slide from alcoholic solutions vary in length from 0.1 
mm. to 0.8 mm. When prepared from aqueous solutions they may 
attain a length of 20 mm. (Fig. 122). 

The following color tests are of some practical value in the identi- 
fication of morphine and its salts. On the addition of morphine to 




Fig. 122. — Morphine sulphate: orthorhombic crystals from aqueous solution. 



concentrated sulphuric acid containing a little potassium dichromate, 
little or no change is produced at first, but the solution later becomes 
of a green color. On the addition first of some cane sugar to morphine 
and then of concentrated sulphuric acid and a little bromin water, 
the solution becomes purplish-red, changing to violet-blue, blue-green 
and finally a dingy yellow. Morphine gives a blue color with dilute 
solutions of ferric chloride, which is destroyed on heating, and it 
gives an orange or reddish color with nitric acid. On heating mor- 



270 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

phine in a sealed tube with hydrochloric acid a new salt is formed, 
known as apomorphine hydrochloride. The latter occurs in minute, 
nearly colorless, monoclinic prisms, which become greenish on 
exposure to air and moisture; and the solutions are colored reddish 
on the addition of dilute solutions of ferric chloride. Pseudomor- 
phine is a crystalline compound that is formed on heating alkaline 
solutions of morphine with oxidizing agents. It is insoluble in water, 
alcohol or even dilute sulphuric acid, but is readily soluble in a solu- 
tion of potassium hydrate. 




Fig. 123. — Codeine sulphate: orthorhombic crystals from hot alcoholic solution. 

Codeine (the methyl ether of morphine) forms anhydrous crystals 
from solutions in ether or benzol, but the crystals from aqueous solu- 
tions contain one molecule of water of crystallization. Microscopic 
x-shaped skeleton crystals separate from alcoholic solutions, which 
vary in length from about 0.050 to 0.100 mm. and a photomicro- 
graph of which is shown on p. 767 of Kraemer's Applied and Economic 
Botany. It forms crystallizable salts, of which the sulphate only 
will be described. At 25° C. one part of codeine sulphate is soluble 
in 30 parts of water, and 1035 parts of alcohol. It is insoluble in 



OPIUM ALKALOIDS 271 

chloroform or ether. The microscopic crystals from hot alcoholic 
solutions vary in length from 0.3 mm. to 2.5 mm. (Fig. 123). 

The following color tests are distinctive for codeine: On heating 
codeine with concentrated sulphuric acid the solution is colored blue. 
On the addition of concentrated sulphuric acid containing traces of 
iron or nitric acid to codeine, the solution becomes green, changing 
to blue, a blue precipitate finally separating. Dilute solutions of 
ferric chloride give a blue color with codeine, which is permanent if 
the solution be gently warmed. Codeine crystals are colored red 
with nitric acid, the solution remaining colorless or only becoming 
yellow on heating. On heating a solution of codeine hydrochloride 
in an autoclave with zinc chloride, an amorphous, yellowish-gray 
powder is formed, known as apocodeine hydrochloride, and having 
the same physiological action as apomorphine hydrochloride. 

Some opium obtained from plants cultivated in France yielded 
2.81 per cent of codeine, while the morphine was but 2.41 per cent 
and the narcotine 0.10 per cent. 

Narcotine exists in opium to a very large extent as a free base. 
It is found in greater amount in Persian and Indian opium than in 
Turkey opium. It forms colorless, shining, rhombic prisms or 
needles, that are tasteless, insoluble in water, but soluble in alcohol. 
With concentrated sulphuric acid narcotine is colored greenish-yellow, 
the solution on heating changing to red and finally violet. It may 
be converted into a number of compounds, of which hydrocotarnine 
and vanillin are probably the most interesting. 

At about 15° C. one part of narcotine is soluble in 100 parts of 
alcohol (85 per cent); 166 parts of ether; 2.7 parts of chloroform, 
and 22 parts of benzene. One part of narcotine is soluble in about 
7000 parts of boiling water. Narcotine is a feeble base and forms 
salts, which for the most part crystallize with difficulty or not at all. 
A crystalline double salt, however, is readily formed with methyl- 
iodide. The crystals of narcotine prepared on microscopic slides 
from alcoholic solution vary in length from 0.4 mm. to 2 mm. 
(Fig. 124). 

Papaverine occurs to the extent of about 1 per cent and forms 
colorless needles or prisms, which are partly soluble in water and 
alcohol, and colored deep purple or violet-blue on warming with 
sulphuric acid. 

Thebaine (gramorphine) occurs to the extent of 0.15 per cent in 
opium. It crystallizes in prisms which are insoluble in water or 
alkaline solutions, soluble in alcohol, and gives with sulphuric acid a 
deep red color. 



272 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Narceine (0.1 to 0.2 per cent) occurs in silky needles or quad- 
rangular prisms, which are nearly insoluble in cold water and alcohol, 
and are colored blue with iodin solutions and blood-red with chlorin 
water and ammonia. 

Protopine occurs in monoclinic prisms, which are insoluble in 
water and sparingly soluble in alcohol, the solution having a bitter 
taste. Sulphuric acid dissolves protopine with a beautiful blue- 
violet color, which later becomes dull violet and finally greenish. 
Protopine is also found in a number of other plants of the Papaver- 




Fig. 124. — Narcotine: orthorhombic crystals from alcoholic solution. 

acese, as the roots of Macleya cordata and Chelidonium majus; 
the rhizome of Sanguinaria, and other plants as well. 

Of the other alkaloids in opium the following may be mentioned: 
Codamine, cryptopine, gnoscopine, lanthopine, laudanine, lau- 
danosine, meconine, meconidine and xanthaline. 

Opium also contains from 3 to 5 per cent of meconic acid, which 
exists in combination with morphine, codeine and other alkaloids. 
It forms rhombic prisms that are soluble in water and alcohol and 
give a deep-red color in solutions of ferric chloride, which is not 
altered on the addition of dilute hydrochloric acid. 



OPIUM 273 

The yield of ash in Opium is from 4 to 8 per cent. 

Persian Opium. — Usually in masses weighing about 350 grammes 
and internally more or less homogeneous. There are three com- 
mercial kinds of Persian opium: (1) Persian green, which is in plano- 
convex masses that are of a greenish color and with a closely adhering 
covering of leaf -tissue; (2) Persian white, which is in oblong, cubical 
masses, that are coated with a layer of closely adhering white paper; 
(3) Persian red, which is in either oblong, cubical, or truncate, 
cone-like masses, that are covered with a grayish-white layer and 
usually wrapped in red paper. 

Turkey Opium is produced in various parts of European and 
Asiatic Turkey, and there are three principal kinds on the market, 
namely: (1) Malati opium, which is in the form of ellipsoidal or 
oblong, flattened cakes, with a closely adhering coating of leaf- 
tissue, and yields about 10 per cent of morphine; (2) Salonica opium, 
which is in the form of long, broad, flattened cakes, coated with leaf- 
tissue, and yields about 15 per cent of morphine; (3) Gheve opium, 
which is obtained from plants with red flowers, occurs in flat, oval 
masses, wrapped in poppy leaves, and yields 12.5 per cent of mor- 
phine. 

Egyptian Opium is in somewhat rectangular masses, that are cov- 
ered with poppy leaves, and yields from 3.5 to 7 per cent of mor- 
phine. 

Indian Opium is in flat cakes weighing about 200 grammes, or 
rounded masses weighing about 2 kilogrammes, wrapped in oiled 
paper. This variety is sent chiefly to China. 

Adulterants. — Opium sometimes contains fragments of the cap- 
sules, the pulp of figs and other fruits, tragacanth, starch, and 
various inorganic substances, as clay, sand, stone, lead piping, lead 
bullets, etc. While starch is not usually admixed with Turkey 
opium, it is nearly always present in the Persian variety. 

Opium Substitutes. — Owing to the habit-producing effects of the 
alkaloids of opium other drugs are sought. Among those which 
have been proposed as substitutes for opium, the following may be 
mentioned: Cannabis (Jour. A. Ph. A., 1918, p. 431); Chelidonium 
and Gelsemium. 

Literature. — Warren, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1915, 87, p. 439; 
Wilbert, Jour. A. Ph. A., 1916, 5, p. 688. 

Powder of Ipecac and Opium. — Consisting of powdered ipecac, 
powdered opium and sugar of milk. Grayish-white or very light 
brown; consisting mostly of coarse angular, frequently more or less 
cone-shaped, colorless fragments, from 0.030 to 0.400 mm. in length, 



274 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

insoluble in water and solutions of hydrated chloral and very strongly 
polarizing with a rich display of colors (fragments of crystals of sugar 
of milk) ; numerous starch grains of ipecac, their presence confirmed 
by the addition of solutions of iodin, and varying from 0.003 to 0.017 
mm. in diameter; occasional fragments of tracheids of ipecac, and 
occasional fragments with the more or less tabular characteristic 
stone cells of the capsules of the opium poppy, with their light 
brown, porous and strongly lignified walls. 

Compound Powder of Morphine. — Consisting of morphine sul- 
phate, camphor, powdered glycyrrhiza and precipitated calcium 
carbonate. Very light brown; with a strong camphoraceous odor 
and a characteristic sweetish and camphoraceous taste; mounts of 
compound powder of morphine made in solutions of hydrated chloral 
show a strong effervescence ; if a slight excess of a solution of hydrated 
chloral containing an equal volume of glycerin is added to a few milli- 
grammes of the powder upon a slide, slightly heated until effervescence 
ceases and examined it shows numerous rosette aggregate crystals 
of calcium carbonate, varying from 0.010 to 0.025 mm. in diameter, 
and fragments of licorice distinguished by their sclerenchymatous 
fibers associated with crystal fibers, tracheae with bordered pores and 
small starch grains in parenchyma cells or isolated, the presence of 
the latter being confirmed upon the addition of a drop of a solution 
of iodin; mounts made in any of the fixed oils show numerous rod- 
shaped crystals of morphine sulphate, which are strongly polarizing 
and often show a strong play of colors; upon adding a small quantity 
of the powder to a watch crystal, covering the same with a similar 
crystal or glass plate and heating cautiously until sublimation is 
effected, the sublimate shows numerous radiating aggregates of 
feather-shaped crystals of camphor, which are non-polarizing and 
readily soluble in alcohol. 

Chelidonium. — Celandine. — The dried flowering plant of Cheli- 
donium majus (Fam. Papaveraceae), a perennial herb having an orange 
milky juice, and common in waste places in the northeastern United 
States and Canada. The plant should be collected at the time of 
flowering and used in a nearly fresh condition, as the active principles 
are partially destoryed and diminished on drying. 

Description. — Root fusiform, gradually tapering, from 4 to 10 
mm. in thickness, becoming very fleshy, attaining a length of 8 cm. 
and a thickness of 3 cm., externally dark brown, wrinkled and with 
a few short roots; internally light brown, having a thin bark. Stem 
cylindrical, somewhat flattened, longitudinally furrowed and wrinkled, 
more or less branching and distinctly jointed, sparingly pubescent, 



BLOOD ROOT 275 

except in the basal portions, which are frequently strongly pubescent. 
Leaves thin, more or less crumpled, and when entire pinnately 
divided, the segments being elliptical or ovate and either deeply 
crenate or lobed; upper surface dark olive-green, lower surface 
greenish-gray, glaucous and sparingly pubescent; petioles from 2 to 
10 cm. in length, more or less pubescent. Flowers yellowish brown 
(when fresh orange-yellow), occurring in axillary umbels, consisting 
of 4 to 9 pedunculate flowers; sepals 2, occurring only in the buds 
petals 4, the lobes being rounded; stamens numerous; ovary with 

2 placentae and a 2-lobed sigma; fruit a dry unilocular pod, cylin- 
drical, tapering at the summit and tipped with the persistent stigma, 
from 12 to 35 mm. in length and 1 to 2 mm. in thickness, and con- 
taining numerous seeds which are usually arranged in 2 rows. Seeds 
spheroidal, ovoid, or ellipsoidal, about 1 mm. in diameter, dark 
brown and nearly smooth. 

Powder. — Light green; aqueous solutions of a golden yellow 
color; seeds composed of nearly cubical thin-walled cells; non- 
glandular hairs, uniseriate, composed of 6 to 8 long cylindrical cells, 
some of which are collapsed and somewhat enlarged or swollen at 
their dividing walls; fragments of leaves with spiral tracheae, and 
latex tubes with light yellowish contents; elliptical or spherical sto- 
mata on lower surface only, walls rather indistinct; pollen grains 
spheroidal, about 0.025 mm. in diameter, nearly smooth, and having 

3 pores; fragments of petals with distinctly yellowish fibrovascular 
bundles. Starch grains and calcium oxalate crystals are wanting. 

Constituents. — From 5 to 7 alkaloids : Chelidonine (stylophorine) 
0.03 per cent, in colorless monoclinic prisms; chelerythrine, which 
is fluorescent; a-, (3-, and 7-rhomochelidonine and protopine. These 
several alkaloids are combined with the following acids: chelidonic, 
malic, citric and tartaric. It also contains chelidoxanthin, a bitter 
neutral principle, possessing a yellow color and resembling berberine ; 
and a small quantity of a volatile oil. Another alkaloid, chelilysime, 
is said to disappear in the drying of the drug. 

Literature. — Schmidt, Arch. d. Pharm., 1886, p. 531; Ibid., 
1893, p. 136; Wintgen, Ibid., 1901, p. 438. 

Sanguinaria. — Bloodroot. — The rhizome of Sanguinaria cana- 
densis (Fam. Papaveracese), a perennial herb indigenous to the eastern 
and central United States and Canada. The rhizome should be 
collected in July or August and dried. 

Description. — Horizontal, irregularly cylindrical, flattened, some- 
times branched, 2.5 to 6 cm. in length, 5 to 10 mm. in diameter; 
externally dark brown, slightly annulate, with few buds or stem- 



276 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

scars on upper surface and numerous root-scars on lower surface; 
fracture short and somewhat waxy; internally, bark dark brown, 
about 0.5 mm. in thickness, wood and pith with numerous reddish 
resin-cells; odor slight; taste bitter and acrid. 

Shriveled rhizomes which are gray internally and free from 
starch should be rejected. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 125.) A layer of small, thin-walled 
epidermal cells; cortex of 10 to 15 rows of thin-walled parenchyma 
cells containing numerous starch grains, or a small amount of fixed 
oil; a strand of cambium, most of which is interfascicular: a narrow 
circular zone of small collateral fibrovascular bundles, separated 
from each other by parenchyma; pith large, consisting of starch- 
bearing parenchyma cells ; laticiferous sacs containing a red or orange- 
colored latex, either isolated or in longitudinal rows and distributed 
among the parenchymatous cells of the middle bark and pith; sec- 
tions treated with glycerin show in the secretion cells, after twenty- 
four hours, spheroidal aggregates of crystals which strongly polarize 
light. 

Powder. — Brownish-red; sternutatory; starch grains numerous, 
0.003 to 0.020 mm. in diameter, being mostly single, seldom 2- to 
3-compound, the individual grains nearly spheroidal or ovoid, some- 
times more or less plano-convex, somewhat resembling those of 
wheat starch in outline, but which polarize light more strongly; 
numerous fragments of short reddish-brown resinous laticiferous 
sacs; tracheal fragments few, having numerous transverse slit-like 
pores. 

Constituents. — The drug contains a number of alkaloids, of which 
the most important is sanguinarine ; it occurs to the extent of about 
1 per cent, crystallizes in colorless needles and yields reddish salts 
with nitric or sulphuric acid. The other alkaloids include chelery- 
thrine, which forms yellowish salts; protopine, also found in other 
plants, and f3- and 7-homochelidonine, which, like the last two alka- 
loids, are found in Chelidonium and some other plants. In addition, 
the drug contains a reddish resin, several organic acids, as citric 
and malic, and considerable starch. 

FUMARIACE^, OR FUMITORY FAMILY 

Mostly delicate herbs and a few green shrubs. The leaves are 
usually compound and the flowers irregular, one or both of the petals 
having a spurred or a saccate base. The fruit is a unilocular capsule 
containing one or more seeds. They are especially characterized by 



SANGUINARIA 



277 




Fig. 125. — Sanguinaria. A, entire flowering plant: a, rhizome with long root- 
lets; b, one of the outer bud-scales; c, young leaf; d, the nearly complete 
flower, in which the caducous sepals have fallen away. B, the separated 
floral organs: a, sepal; b and c, different petals; d, stamens; e, pistil in differ- 
ent views. C, diagram showing position of parts of the flower. D, 
transverse section of rhizome: a, cork; b, vascular bundle; c, cluster of 
reddish secretion cells or laticiferous sacs in the middle cortical layer; d, 
cambium of one of the collateral bundles; e, one of the numerous red latex 
cells of pith. E, transverse section of a young root before any important 
secondary changes have occurred: k, layer of epidermal cells; p, starch- 
bearing parenchyma of cortex; a, laticiferous sacs; b, endodermis; c, 
tracheae; d, pericambium layer, the cells of which are filled with very small 
starch grains; e, leptome. F, longitudinal section through tracheal portion 
of one of the vascular bundles of the rhizome : a, starch-bearing parenchyma ; 
b, scalariform tracheae. — After Bastin, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1895, p. 4. 



278 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED "PHARMACOGNOSY 

having special secretion cells termed idioblasts. These are more 
or less elongated cells, varying from 2 to 10 mm. in length, and occur 
in the leaves as well as in the axis of the plant. Their contents are 
either colorless, yellow or red. They have been variously termed 
tannin and anthocyanin-receptacles or alkaloidal-receptacles. They 
probably contain a mixture of substances, including a fixed oil, a 
pigment resembling anthocyanin, tannic acid and one or more 
alkaloids. The idioblasts are either isolated or arranged in long 
longitudinal rows. For further discussion and illustration of these 
cells, consult Kraemer's Applied and Economic Botany, pp. 208-210. 

Corydalis. — Turkey or Squirrel Corn. — The dried tubers of 
Dicentra (Corydalis) canadensis and the granulate bulbs of 
Dicentra Cucullaria (Fam. Fumariacese). These are low, stemless, 
perennial herbs, common in rich woods in the eastern and central 
United States and Canada. The plants have ternately compound 
and dissected leaves and form racemes of characteristic flowers, 
having heart-shaped, and spurred corollas, those of D. canadensis 
being tinged with purple, while those of D. Cucullaria are yellow at 
the summit. 

D. Canadensis. — The tubers are rounded and frequently ver- 
tically depressed, the flattened surface more or less concave, from 
5 to 15 mm. in diameter; usually single, rarely two or more in a 
cluster; externally, minutely pitted or nearly smooth, grayish- 
brown, grayish-black or amber colored and more or less translucent; 
one of the flattened surfaces having a triangular scar from detached 
rhizome, the other usually with the short rhizome base and numerous 
fine roots; fracture either hard and horny (the inner surface being 
yellowish and waxy), or somewhat tough (the fractured surface 
being yellowish-white and granular) ; odor slight ; taste bitter. 

D. Cucullaria. — The bulbils of the granulate bulb are plump, 
ovoid or triangular-ovoid, from 5 to 12 mm. in length; the larger 
bulbils distinctly concave on one surface, with a scar at the summit 
from the detached petiole, and usually attached to the short root- 
stock in clusters of three; the smaller bulbils usually separated from 
the root-stock and having an acute summit and a scar at the base; 
externally, yellowish or grayish-brown, usually translucent; frac- 
ture either hard and horny, the inner surface being grayish and waxy, 
or tough and whitish granular; odor slight; taste slightly bitter. 

Powder. — Light yellow or yellowish-gray; starch grains numer- 
ous, mostly single or 2-compound, the individual grains from 0.003 
to 0.060 mm. in length, ovoid or oblong, the broad end of the grain 
sometimes truncate, and usually having at the point of origin of 



SINAPIS ALBA 279 

growth a distinct cleft or horseshoe-shaped fissure, occasional altered 
and swollen grains from 0.060 to 0.090 mm. in diameter; tracheae 
few, with simple pores, or reticulate, annular or spiral markings; 
fragments of epidermal cells with thin brownish walls; sclerenchym- 
atous fibers very few or wanting; sclerotic cells in D. Cucullaria 
very characteristic, being irregular in outline, mostly elongated, 
attaining a length of 0.750 mm. and a width of 0.100 mm., walls 
heavily lignified and about 0.020 mm. in thickness, and porous, 
occurring either isolated or in groups of from two to four; sclerotic 
cells from the rhizome of D. canadensis, few, mostly isodiametric, 
uniformly smaller than those of D. Cucullaria, the walls being 
about 0.012 mm. in thickness and not distinctly irregular in outline; 
rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate, from the portions of rhizome 
of D. canadensis, few and 0.020 mm. in diameter. — Newcomb. 

CRUCIFERiE, OR MUSTARD FAMILY 

The plants are mostly herbs, occasionally woody, and include 
about 1500 species, which are widely distributed. The flowers 
consist of 4 sepals, 4 petals, 6 tetradynamous stamens, and a single 
compound pistil, becoming in fruit usually a 2-locular silique or 
silicle. They are especially characterized by their colorless secretion 
cells. These very closely resemble their neighboring cells, but in 
the cortex and mesophyll are usually somewhat elongated. Their 
exact location may be determined by the use of certain reagents. 
They are stained by the anilin dyes ; with solutions of orcin or orcein 
and hydrochloric acid they are colored violet ; with Millon's reagent, 
consisting of a solution of mercuric nitrate, the contents are pre- 
cipitated and colored red. In alcoholic material the contents of the 
secretion cells are precipitated and their position more readily 
determined. Myrosin-secreting cells occur in nearly all of the 
Cruciferae, with the exception of Capsella, Lepidium, Cakile and a 
few others. In the leaves of the Cruciferae occur large water-storing 
cells. These occur among the epidermal cells and are readily dis- 
tinguished by their greater size. The non-glandular hairs are 
unicellular and of various characteristic shapes for the different 
genera. Glandular hairs are seldom found, and calcium oxalate is 
wanting. 

Sinapis Alba. — Brassica Alba, White Mustard. — The dried, 
ripe seeds of Brassica (Sinapis) alba (Fam. Cruciferae), an annual 
herb native of Europe and southwestern Asia, also naturalized and 
extensively cultivated in many countries. The commercial supply 



280 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



of the drug is obtained from plants grown in England, Germany, 
Holland and Italy. 

Description.— Campylotropous, irregularly spheroidal, somewhat 
compressed, 1 to 2 mm. in diameter, externally yellowish-brown, 
seed-coat membranaceous, and minutely pitted, marked on one 
side by a distinct ridge and two parallel furrows formed by the 
hypocotyl and cotyledons; internally light yellow, without a reserve 
layer, hypocotyl curved, cotyledons conduplicate; inodorous; taste 
pungent and acrid. 

Inner Structure.— See Figs. 126 and 127. 




Fig. 126. — A, transverse section of Brassica alba (white mustard), ep, epidermis; 
se, collenchyma; b, palisade layer of stone cells which have the inside and 
lower portions of the side walls considerably thickened (so-called beaker 
cells); p, several layers of parenchyma; P, aleurone layer consisting of thick 
walls and having an oily cytoplasm and numerous very small, somewhat 
spheroidal aleurone grains; i, layer of usually more or less compressed cells, 
but here shown as being polygonal in outline. B, transverse section of Bras- 
sica nigra (black mustard), ep, epiderms; se, collenchyma which are modified 
to large giant cells and which give rise in part to the reticulations of the 
seeds; b, palisade layer of peculiarly thickened stone cells (so-called beaker 
cells) which are of unequal height; g, brown pigment layer consisting of 
1 or 2 rows of cells which are tangentially elongated and colored blue with 
solutions of ferric salts; K, aleurone layer consisting of thick walls and hav- 
ing an oily cytoplasm and numerous very small, somewhat spheroidal 
aleurone grains; o, several layers of more or less collapsed cells; c, cells of 
embryo containing an oily cytoplasm and small aleurone grains, the latter 
being either nearly spheroidal or somewhat ellipsoidal, and composed mainly 
of globoids. — After Moeller. 



Powder. — (Fig. 127.) Light yellow; fragments of seed-coat 
with mucilaginous epidermal cells; a sub-epidermal collenchymatous 
layer of 1 or 2 rows of cells; a layer of radially elongated palisade 
or stone cells (forming the so-called " beaker cells "), the walls of the 



MUSTARD 281 

lower part being slightly thickened and polygonal in surface view; 
two or more inner layers of thin-walled colorless cells ; a single layer 
of cells containing aleurone grains and fixed oil, and some obliterated 
cells, which, together constitute the endosperm. The embryo makes 
up the greater portion of the seed, and the cells contain aleurone 
grains and an oily cytoplasm. 




Fig. 127. — White mustard. Surface view of the different tissues as seen in the 
powder: ep, polygonal cells of the outer epidermis showing mucilage lamellae 
and the reduced lumina due to swelling of the lamellae; se, collenchymatous 
cells beneath the epidermis; b, elongated stone cells (so-called beaker cells); 
i, parenchyma cells beneath the stone cells, which are distinguished from the 
corresponding layer in a number of other seeds by not containing any pig- 
ment; P, cells of endosperm containing aleurone; C, tissue of cotyledon 
containing aleurone grains and oil. — After Moeller. 

Constituents. — Fixed oil 20 to 25 per cent; mucilage in the outer 
wall of the epidermal cells; proteids about 30 per cent; a glucoside 
sinalbin and a ferment myrosin, which yield on interaction a yellow- 
ish non-volatile oil (acrinyl sulphocyanide) which is pungent to the 
taste, but owing to its non-volatile character, does not affect the eyes 
or nose. In the reaction there is also formed glucose and acid sin- 
apine sulphate. Sinapine is an alkaloid which is decomposed, on 
heating its solutions with alkalies, into choline and sinapic acid. 

White mustard should contain not more than 24 per cent of 
oil; not less than 35 per cent of protein substances, and not more 
than 12 per cent of crude fiber. 

Standard of Purity. — Mustard seed is the seed of Sinapis alba L. 
(white mustard), Brassica nigra (L.) Koch (black mustard), Brassica 
juncea Hook f. et Th., or varieties or closely related species of the 
types of Brassica nigra and Brassica juncea. 

Sinapis alba (white mustard) contains no appreciable amount of 
volatile oil. It contains not more than 5 per cent of total ash, nor 
more than 1.5 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. 



282 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Brassica nigra (black mustard) and Brassica juncea yield 0.6 
per cent of volatile mustard oil (calculated as allylisothiocyanate 
and determined by the method given in Service and Regulatory 
Announcements, Chemistry 20). The varieties and species closely 
related to the types of Brassica nigra and Brassica juncea yield not 
less than 0.6 per cent of volatile mustard oil, similar in character 
and composition to the volatile oils yielded by Brassica nigra and 
Brassica juncea. These mustard seeds contain not more than 5 
per cent of total ash, nor more than 1.5 per cent of ash insoluble in 
hydrochloric acid. 

Ground mustard is the powder made from mustard seed, and con- 
forms to the standards for mustard seed. 

Mustard flour is the powder made from mustard seed with the 
hulls largely removed and with or without the removal of a portion 
of the fixed oil. It contains not more than 1.5 per cent of starch, 
nor more than 6 per cent of total ash. 

Prepared mustard, German mustard, French mustard, mustard 
paste, is a paste composed of a mixture of ground mustard or mus- 
tard flour, with salt, a vinegar, and with or without spices or other 
condiments which do not simulate the color of yellow ground mus- 
tard. Calculated free from water, fat, and salt, it contains not more 
than 24 per cent of carbohydrates (calculated as starch), not more 
than 12 per cent of crude fiber, nor less than 5.6 per cent of nitrogen 
derived solely from the materials herein named. (U. S. Dept. 
Agric). 

Adulterants. — While the whole mustard is seldom, if ever, adul- 
terated, ground mustard may contain wheat middlings or shorts, 
and occasionally rice or pea flour; when these flours are employed, 
turmeric is also added to bring up the color, which is readily detected 
by means of the microscope (Fig. 88) and by its becoming deep red 
with sulphuric acid and blue with iodin. Prepared mustard is some- 
times adulterated with white mustard hulls separated from the seed 
before expression of the fixed oil. 

Allied Plants. — In Indian Colza (Brassica campestris Sarson) 
the epidermis forms a homogenous layer, a sub-epidermal layer not 
being present. The seeds of Turnip (Brassica campestris) are sup- 
posed to be the white mustard of Sanscrit writers. 

Ground White Mustard or white mustard flour is prepared 
from the seed of Brassica alba with or without the removal of a part 
of the seed-coat (hulls) and the fixed oil. In fact, not infrequently 
mustard seed-cake is employed. 



SINAPIS NIGRA 



283 



Prepared Mustard (German Mustard, French Mustard of Mus- 
tard Paste) is a paste composed of a mixture of ground mustard 
(either Brassica alba or Brassica nigra, or both) salt, spices and 
vinegar. 

Sinapis Nigka. — Brassica Nigra, Black Mustard. — The dried, 
ripe seeds of Brassica nigra (Fam. Cruciferae), an annual occurring 
much the same as Sinapis alba. 

Description. — Campylotropous, ellipsoidal or irregularly spher- 
oidal, 1 to 1.5 mm. in diameter; externally brownish-red, seed-coat 
membranaceous, finely pitted, hilum whitish, forming a conical 
projection, micropyle occurring as a slight depression; without a 
reserve layer, hypocotyl curved, cotyledons conduplicate; inodorous: 
taste pungent and acrid. 

Inner Structure.— See Figs. 126 and 128. 

Powder. — (Fig. 128.) Yellowish-brown; fragments of seed- 
coat with mucilaginous epidermal cells; a single layer of thin- walled, 





Fig. 128. — Black mustard. A, surface view of some of the characteristic cells 
seen in the powder: p, elongated stone cells (beaker cells), beneath which is 
the pigment layer (g); K, endosperm cells containing aleurone; c, cells of 
cotyledon containing aleurone and oil. B, enlarged surface view of the stone 
cells, showing a shadow-like reticulum composed of broad lines which appear- 
ance is due to the fact that some of the cells are tangentially elongated 
(compare with Fig. 126, B). — After Moeller. 

unequal sub-epidermal cells; a layer of palisade or stone cells (so- 
called " beaker cells "), thickened much the same as in Brassica alba, 
but of unequal height, giving the section a somewhat reticulate ap- 
pearance; a pigment layer of one or two cells which may be tabular 
or considerably tangentially elongated and with a brown content 
which is colored blue with ferric chloride, as in flaxseed. The 
endosperm and embryo contain fixed oil and aleurone grains, these 
layers practically making up most of the drug. Starch grains are 
not present in mustard and the powder should not contain more than 
ten granules to a milligram. 



284 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Ground Black Mustard or Black Mustard Flour is usually pre- 
pared from the cake which has been deprived of the hulls and part of 
the oil. It is customary to mix some of the white mustard with the 
black mustard, it being supposed that the excess of the ferment 
in B. alba will change the unconverted glucoside into volatile oil 
of mustard. It is likely, however, that the enhanced quality of the 
product is due to the pungent and non-volatile character of the oil 
in white mustard. 

Mustard Paste is sometimes adulterated with starches. At one 
time, the addition of other substances was considered to be necessary 
on account of the pungency of the drug. 

Constituents. — Black mustard contains the same constituents 
as white mustard, save that it contains more fixed oil (30 to 35 per 
cent); less of the ferment, myrosin; and the sinalbin is replaced by 
the glucoside, sinigrin (potassium myronate), which is present to 
the extent of about 1 per cent and yields on interaction with the 
myrosin a light yellowish volatile oil (allyl isosulphocyanide or vola- 
tile oil of mustard), which has an acrid, burning taste, pungent odor, 
and also affects the eyes. In the reaction there is also formed glu- 
cose and potassium acid sulphate. 

The U. S. Department of Agriculture has ruled that black mus- 
tard-seed should yield a volatile oil containing not less than 0.6 per 
cent of allyl iso-thiocyanate. 

Allied Products. — Of the seeds of the other Cruciferse, which some- 
what resemble black mustard, the following may be mentioned: 
The seeds of Field mustard or Brassica arvensis, which are almost 
black and perfectly smooth; the seeds of Sarepta mustard (Brassica 
Besseriana), which are larger and distinctly reticulate; Rape or 
colza seeds (Brassica Napus), which are larger, not reticulate and of a 
bluish-black color; Turnip seeds yielded by Brassica campestris, 
which are somewhat larger but less acrid, and are used in India in 
place of black mustard; and Brassica juncea, which is cultivated in 
tropical Asia for the same purpose. 

Adulterants. — A large percentage of the black mustard of com- 
merce is admixed with the seeds of wild mustard or Charlock (Bras- 
sica arvensis). The plant is very common in the wheat fields of 
the northwestern States and the seeds are almost always present 
in the mustard from this territory. A product known as Dakota 
Mustard consists largely of the seeds of this plant. They are very 
easily detected by the use of a small magnifying glass, as they are 
brownish-black, from 1 to 1.5 mm. in diameter, nearly smooth and 
not reticulated as true black mustard. Charlock, when admixed 



DROSERA 285 

with powdered black mustard, can be detected microscopically by 
the palisade-stone cells, which become blood-red on heating with a 
solution of hydrated chloral. 

DROSERACEJS, OR SUNDEW FAMILY 

A small family of biennial or perennial herbs which are very widely 
distributed. In some respects these plants are among the most 
interesting in the plant kingdom, being of very great biological 
interest. It includes Dionsea muscipula or Venus' fly-trap, which is 
found in the sandy bogs of a limited area in the vicinity of Wilming- 
ton, N. C. It exhibits in a remarkable degree the irritability com- 
mon to some plants; a slight touch to the sensitive hairs on the leaf 
causes a rapid movement of the modified leaf-blade. For illustra- 
tion of the plant consult Kraemer's Applied and Economic Botany, 
p. 362. The typical genus of the family, Drosera, has about 110 
species, which are most abundant in Australia, several species, how- 
ever, being rather common in the United States. They all possess 
peculiarly stalked glands, forming in Drosera the so-called glandular 
tentacles, and of which there are 2 types (a) . those situated upon the 
surface of the leaf possessing an ellipsoidal glandular head, and (b) 
those occurring on the margins of the leaf in which the head has 
the form of a spoon. 

Drosera. — Sundew. — The entire plant of Drosera rotundifolia 
or other closely allied species of Drosera (Fam. Droseraceae). The 
plant is collected at the time of flowering, the roots washed, the 
lower withered and darkened leaves removed, and carefully dried. 

Description. — More or less crumpled and matted; leaves petio- 
late, mostly basal, except in submerged plants which have more or 
less lengthened internodes ; laminae sub-orbicular or broadly elliptical, 
7 to 15 mm. in diameter, abruptly narrowed into the petioles and 
covered with numerous pinkish-red glandular tentacles, about 4 mm. 
in length; petioles very slender, from 2 to 4 cm. in length and 0.5 to 
2 mm. in diameter, somewhat flattened and pubescent; scapes fili- 
form, from 5 to 10 cm. in length, having the flowers in a 1-sided 
raceme-like inflorescence; flower buds about 5 mm. in length, having 
an imbricated calyx and convoluted corolla; lower portion of the 
stem somewhat flattened, tapering, from 5 to 30 mm. in length and 
bearing a few very slender roots. 

Inner Structure. — Glandular tentacles, from 0.250 to 0.400 mm. 
in length, and consisting of a long multiseriate stalk traversed by a 
strand of tracheids, which become broader on extending into the 



286 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

glandular hair; pigment cells colored deep red and changing to a 
bright green upon the addition of solutions of the alkalies; epidermal 
cells elongated with straight walls, having numerous elliptical sto- 
mata about 0.025 mm. in length, and many 2-celled glandular hairs 
about 0.040 mm. in diameter, the dividing wall usually more or less 
curved and the cells being filled with a granular substance, occasion- 
ally the short glandular hairs are 4-celled ; the individual cells being 
of irregular shape. 

Constituents. — A greenish-brown resin, having a slight odor and 
a very acrid taste; an enzyme capable of converting albumin into 
peptone; also citric acid and probably malic acid. 

Allied Plants. — Drosera longifolia, an allied species, frequently 
growing with Drosera rotundifolia, is sometimes admixed with or 
entirely substituted for it. 

SAXIFRAGACEjE, oe saxifrage family 

Mostly perennial herbs, seldom annual plants or shrubs, and rep- 
resented by about 200 species, which are mostly indigenous to 
the North Temperate zones. There is considerable variation in the 
position of the leaves, the number of parts to the flower, the 
character of the inflorescence, and the nature of the fruit. They are 
especially characterized by having a small embryo embedded in a 
large endosperm. The tracheae always possess scalariform perfora- 
tions and the walls adjoining the parenchyma are usually marked by 
simple pores. The wood fibers have either simple or bordered pores. 
The non-glandular hairs are of several types and in some genera 
are calcified, as in Hydrangea, Philadelphus and Deutzia. The 
glandular hairs usually possess a uniseriate stalk. Calcium oxal- 
ate occurs in the form of styloids, raphides, rosette aggregates, or 
sphenoidal microcrystals. 

Hydrangea. — Wild Hydrangea Root or Seven Barks. — 
The rhizome and roots of Hydrangea arborescens (Fam. Saxifra- 
gaceae), a beautiful shrub, growing wild on rocks and near streams 
throughout the central and southern United States. The rhizome 
and roots are very fleshy and are cut into pieces to facilitate drying. 

Description. — Rhizome, cylindrical, usually in pieces 3 to 10 
cm. in length, 3 to 20 mm. in diameter, light brown to yellowish- 
brown with a pinkish tinge, longitudinally wrinkled, marked by 
few elliptical lenticels and occasional prominent buds, short branches 
or stem scars, and from the lower surface arise a few coarse fibrous 
roots; fracture tough, splintery; internally yellowish- white or 



HYDRANGEA 287 

light brown, bark thin, easily separable from the distinctly radiate 
wood which surrounds a prominent whitish pith; inodorous; taste 
of the bark sweetish, becoming slightly acrid. Roots attaining a 
length of 25 cm. and a thickness of 2 mm., irregularly bent and 
branching, otherwise resembling the rhizome with the exception of 
the pith being wanting. 

Inner Structure. — A corky layer consisting of several rows of 
grayish-white tabular cells; cortex consisting chiefly of starch- 
bearing parenchyma, large cells containing raphides, small isolated 
groups of stone cells, and sclerenchymatous fibers; a woody cylinder 
composed of slender wedges made up of prominent tracheae with 
reticulate thickenings and tracheids, separated by the starch-bearing 
medullary rays which are from 1 to 3 cells wide ; pith of large polyg- 
onal cells with prominent simple pores. 

Powder. — Light yellowish-brown; irregular fragments consisting 
of strongly lignified tracheae, tracheids and medullary ray cells; 
stone cells and sclerenchymatous fibers, 0.050 to 0.200 mm. in length, 
strongly lignified, the walls being marked by simple and branching 
pores; raphides numerous, from 0.070 to 0.130 mm. in length; 
starch grains mostly single, more or less ellipsoidal, occasionally with 
a prominent central cleft, and varying from 0.002 to 0.010 mm. in 
diameter. 

Constituents. — A glucoside, hydrangin, about 1 per cent, crys- 
tallizing in aggregates, soluble in alcohol and ether, and giving with 
solutions of the alkalies a bluish fluorescence, which immediately 
disappears on the addition of acids. Also a volatile oil, resin and 
starch. It probably also contains a saponin. A glucoside, para- 
hydrangin, is also present in the root of the arborescent Hydrangea 
(H. Paniculata grandiflora), a, variety extensively cultivated. 



HAMAMELIDACE^:, OR WITCHHAZEL FAMILY 

Mostly sub-tropical trees or shrubs and represented by about 
35 species. The leaves are alternate, the flowers perfect or polyga- 
mous, usually having an imperfect perianth, and the fruit is a woody 
capsule, dehiscing at the summit. In the axis the tracheae are usually 
narrow and possess scalariform perforations or have simple pores 
when in contact with the medullary ray cells. The wood fibers bear 
simple pores and the medullary rays are but a few cells wide and a 
great many rows in height. The non-glandular hairs are either stel- 
late or tufted. Calcium oxalate is excreted either in the form of 



288 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

solitary crystals or rosette aggregates. Tannin secretion cells are 
very characteristic in Hamamelis. Schizogenous resin canals occur 
in Liquidambar. They occur commonly at the margin of the pith 
and can be traced into the finest branches of the veins of the leaves. 
In roots they are associated with the development of primary and 
secondary phloem. 

Hamamelidis Folia. — Witchhazel Leaves. — The leaves of 
Hamamelis virginiana (Fam. Hamamelidaceae), a shrub indigenous 
to the eastern and middle United States and Canada. The leaves 
are collected in autumn, and are used in the fresh condition, or dried; 
when dried they should be carefully preserved and not kept longer 
than one year. 

Description. — Broadly elliptical, or rhomboid-obovate, more or 
less unequal; 3.5 to 12 cm. in length, 2.5 to 7 cm. in breadth; summit 
rounded, acute or acuminate; base obliquely cordate; margin 
sinuate or sinuate-dentate; upper surface dark green, veins of the 
first order diverging at an angle of about 60° and running nearly 
parallel to the margin, with grayish patches of a mold and slightly 
pubescent; under surface light green, pubescent, midrib and veins 
prominent; petiole 5 to 12 mm. in length; texture coarse, brittle; 
odor slight ; taste astringent. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 129.) Epidermal layer of the ventral 
surface, glabrous except above the midrib and the large secondary 
veins; stomata are only found upon the lower surface, these being 
narrow elliptical, about 0.015 mm. in length with 2 to 4 neighboring 
cells; from both surfaces, but especially from the under surface, 
arise stellate hairs composed of from 4 to 12 cells united at the base, 
the individual cells being from 0.030 to 0.075 mm. in length, either 
straight or more or less bent and with very thick walls and narrow 
lumina, sometimes only apparent in the lower portion of the cells; 
a palisade layer consisting of a single row of cells and a dorsal pneu- 
matic tissue made up of from 3 to 6 rows of strongly branching cells; 
the fibrovascular bundles occurring in the midrib and petiole are large 
and of the collateral type, with a central area composed of paren- 
chyma, surrounded by a strongly developed xylem, the tracheae 
being narrow, mostly spiral and associated with numerous narrow, 
strongly lignified wood fibers, the pores being prominent ; the phloem 
consists of leptome surrounded by a nearly continuous circle of bast 
fibers, the walls of which are strongly lignified; calcium oxalate 
occurs in monoclinic prisms from 0.010 to 0.035 mm. in diameter, 
occurring either in the cells of the mesophyll or in crystal fibers, the 
latter associated with the bast fibers. 



HAMAMELIS 



289 




c^^pc-P 



Coll ... 





Fig. 129. — Hamamelis. A, transverse section of a midrib from about the middle 
of the leaf-blade, showing an arch-shaped collateral vascular bundle situated 
near the upper or ventral epidermis and a stele with a central pith (T) 
near the center of the section. Ep, ventral epidermis; coll, collenchyma; 
P, palisade cells; St, stereome or sclerenchymatous fibers; H, trachea? or 
vessels; L, leptome; T, pith; Ca, calcium oxalate; A, colorless tissue; 
D, dorsal epidermis. B, transverse section of a thin mestome strand of leaf 
blade; Ep, ventral epidermis; Coll, collenchyma; P, palisade tissue; St, 
stereome; PS, parenchyma sheath; N, loose mesophyll or pneumatic tissue. 
C, transverse sections of leaf -blade; Ep, ventral epidermis; D, dorsal epi- 



290 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Powder .—Dark green; calcium oxalate in monoclinic prisms 
0.007 to 0.035 mm. in diameter, frequently in crystal fibers; non- 
glandular hairs 1-celled, about 0.5 mm. in length, more or less curved, 
thick-walled, with yellowish-brown contents, arranged in groups of 

2 to 15, and spreading from the base; numerous cells of loose 
mesophyll with irregular tannin masses; sclerenchymatous fibers 
thick-walled, lignified and with simple pores. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil; a bitter principle; tannin, about 

3 per cent; gallic acid, and calcium oxalate. 

The distillate, obtained on distilling either the fresh or dried 
leaves of Hamamelis with water, contains an aromatic substance 
that apparently does not exist as such in the leaves. The sub- 
stance sold as hamamelin is a mixture consisting of an evaporated 
alcoholic extract of either the leaves or bark, that of the former 
being greenish-black and more permanent and the latter brownish- 
black and more or less hygroscopic. 

Hamamelidis Cortex. — Witchhazel Bark. — The bark and 
twigs of Hamamelis virginiana (Fam. Hamamelidacese), a shrub 
indigenous to Canada and the United States and extending west to 
Minnesota and south to Texas. 

Description. — Bark is transversely curved pieces 5 to 20 cm. in 
length, 5 to 15 mm. in diameter, bark 0.5 to 1 mm. in thickness; 
usually with the grayish-brown or reddish-brown periderm removed, 
outer surface light brownish-red, smooth; inner surface light reddish- 
brown, longitudinally striate; fracture short-fibrous; odor slight; 
taste astringent. 

Twigs 2 to 5 mm. in diameter; the outer surface varying in color 
from yellowish-brown to blackish-brown, smooth or somewhat scurfy, 
longitudinally wrinkled, and with numerous small lenticels; small, 
twigs somewhat zigzag from numerous leaf -scars; bark thin, easily- 
separable from the whitish, hard, radiate wood; pith small. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 130.) A layer of phelloderm consisting 
of from 10 to 15 rows of cells with yellowish-brown contents; outer 

dermis; Sc, sclereids or colorless stone cells (also called idioblasts); N, loose 
mesophyll; in figures a and b the palisade and pneumatic tissue are shown 
with thick- walled stone cells, branched in a, penetrating epidermis in 6; 
in c one end of a sclereid is entering an epidermal cell, and in d, is shown a 
surface view of the epidermis with the end of a stone cell. D, basal portion 
of a 4-branched hair from the dorsal epidermis of leaf, showing very thin 
cross-walls in the branches. E, surface view of dorsal epidermis of leaf- 
blade, showing the stomata (S) and oil globules (0). F, transverse section 
of a midrib from near the summit of the leaf -blade, letters as in A. — After 
Holm, Merck's Report, 1912, p. 5. 



HAMAMELIS 



291 



bark with a continuous layer of stone cells, the walls being very thick, 
lamellated and with large simple and branching pores; parenchyma 
of primary cortex containing either reddish-brown amorphous tannin 
masses, or very small starch grains; inner bark with medullary rays 
usually 1 cell wide, occasionally 2 to 5 cells wide, separating the bast 
fibers which occur in tangentially elongated groups, plates of paren- 
chyma and sieve tissue; bast fibers with thick, more or less lignified 

A Pf¥7/fi\Ma-s 




Fig. 130. — Hamamelis virginiana: A, transverse section of twig: K, cork; 
H, cells of hypodermis with simple pores, the cells containing chloroplasts 
and small starch grains; Ca, calcium oxalate crystals; Cf, crystal fibers; 
F, bast fibers with thick, strongly lignified walls; S, sieve cells; M, medullary 
rays; C, cambium; W, wood fibers; T, tracehae. B, tangential section of a 
twig showing stone cells (St), crystal fibers Cf), and thick-walled bast fibers 
(F). 



walls and associated with crystal fibers usually consisting of mono- 
clinic prisms, 0.015 to 0.040 mm. in length;, adhering wood of tracheae 
having bordered pores, numerous strongly lignified wood fibers with 
prominent oblique slit-like, simple pores or bordered pores and med- 
ullary rays 1 cell wide, the walls being more or less lignified, with 
numerous simple pores and the lumina occasionally filled with starch, 



292 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Constituents.— Gallotannic acid, a glucosoidal tannin, and gallic 
acid. The bark apparently also contains a volatile oil consisting 
chiefly of a terpene, which is obtained by distillation in the prepa- 
ration of hamamelis water or extract of witchhazel. 

Caules Hamamelidis. — Hamamelis Twigs. — Witchhazel 
Twigs. — The fresh twigs of Hamamelis virginina (Fam. Hamameli- 
dacese), collected in the fall. 

Twigs with nodes 2-ranked giving the younger portions frequently 
a zigzag outline; externally yellowish-brown. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 130.) The epidermal layer of young twigs 
show numerous stellate branching hairs similar to those described 
under Hamamelis Leaves (Fig. 129) — a hypodermis of 6 or 8 rows of 
cells; a cortical layer, the cells for the most part being filled with 
chloroplasts, otherwise containing small starch grains and occa- 
sionally crystals of calcium oxalate either in the form of monoclinic 
prisms or rosette aggregates ; a continuous circle of mechanical tissue 
consisting of groups of bast fibers separated by stone cells, the walls 
of both being strongly lignified; a narrow leptome or sieve area; a 
xylem composed of large trachese, with scalariform or reticulate 
thickenings and associated with numerous tracheids having numer- 
ous bordered pores, the medullary rays being one cell wide and 
filled with very small starch grains; pith nearly circular, the cells 
having thick porous walls and the lumina more or less filled with 
small, somewhat angular starch grains. In the thicker stems the 
epidermis is replaced with cork, the walls of the cells being usually 
yellowish-brown and the lumina often filled with a yellowish-brown 
amorphous substance, otherwise the structure is the same as that 
of the young twigs. 

Styrax. — Storax. — A balsam obtained from the trunk of Liquid- 
ambar orientalis (Fam. Hamamelidaceae), a tree indigenous to Asia 
Minor and the Levant. The balsam is a pathological product, and 
is produced by bruising the bark of the tree, removing it -and then 
boiling the inner bark in sea-water, the balsam which rises to the 
surface being skimmed off. 

Description. — A viscid, grayish, more or less opaque semi-liquid 
mass, depositing on standing a heavier, dark brown, oleo-resinous 
stratum; translucent in thin layers; odor agreeable ; taste balsamic. 

Storax is insoluble in water; between 60 and 70 per cent is sol- 
uble in warm alcohol, and the residue on evaporation of the alcoholic 
solution is almost completely soluble in ether, carbon disulphide, 
or benzol, but insoluble in benzin; the portion undissolved after 
thorough extraction with boiling alcohol should not be more than 



STYRAX 293 

4 per cent. When boiled with a solution of potassium dichromate 
and sulphuric acid it evolves an odor resembling that of bitter 
almonds (due to the presence of cinnamic acid) ; it forms little or no 
foam when mixed with an equal volume of alcohol and shaken with 
ammonia water, indicating the absence of turpentine and fixed oils. 

Constituents. — Storax consists of about 50 per cent of two resin 
alcohols, a-storesin and jS-storesin, which are partly free, partly in 
combination with cinnamic acid and partly with sodium, a-storesin 
(a-storesinol) is an amorphous substance that is very sparingly sol- 
uble in water and forms a crystalline compound of potassium. 
/3-storesin (/3-storesinol) occurs in white flakes which are somewhat 
soluble in water but do not form a crystalline compound of potassium. 
Storax also contains from 10 to 20 per cent of an ester consisting of 
cinnamic acid and storesin; from 5 to 10 per cent of cinnamyl or 
styryl cinnamate (styracin) which occurs in colorless, odorless and 
tasteless needles and which on hydrolysis yields cinnamic alcohol 
(styrone) and a salt of cinnamic acid; about 10 per cent of an odor- 
less, viscid substance, phenyl-propyl cinnamate ; from 2 to 3 per 
cent of phenyl ethylene (styrol or styrene), which occurs as a color- 
less liquid possessing the odor and pungent taste of storax; from 
0.5 to 1 per cent of a volatile oil which is laevo-rotatory and consists of 
a hydrocarbon, styrene, about 0.4 per cent of an oxygenated com- 
pound (styrocamphene), and cinnamates of ethyl, benzyl, phenyl- 
propyl and cinnamic alcohols; from 2 to 5 per cent of free cinnamic 
acid; a small quantity of iso-cinnamic acid which occurs in colorless 
crystals; a crystallizable substance, styrogenin; about 0.15 per 
cent of vanillin; a trace of benzoic acid; ethyl vanillin; resin, and 
caoutchouc. Storax sometimes yields more than 20 per cent of free 
cinnamic acid and is the best available source of this substance. 

Allied Plants. — Liquidambar Styraciflua, a tree indigenous to 
the eastern and southern United States and Mexico, yields the 
American storax, which occurs as a yellowish-brown, semi-liquid 
mass somewhat resembling Levant storax. It probably contains 
related storesins (storesinols), which appear to form similar com- 
binations with cinnamic acid. On distillation of the fresh balsam 
about 7 per cent of a volatile oil is obtained, which is dextrorotatory 
and contains styrol and a body with the odor of oil of turpentine, 
the cinnamyl-ethyl-ester and cinnamyl-benzyl-ester being wanting. 
It also contains phenyl-propyl-cinnamate, styracin, styrol, free 
cinnamic acid and vanillin. On account of the scarcity of Levant 
styrax, the American product has attracted considerable attention. 
It contains 28 per cent of cinnamic acid, 22.86 per cent of cinna- 



294 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

mene, 34.76 per cent of resin esters and 2 per cent of resin acids. 
(Jordan, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1917, 89, p. 581.) 

Styrax is also obtained from Altingia excelsa, of the Indian 
Archipelago. It yields a soft, white, crystalline balsam developing 
the fragrant odor of styrol and contains about 50 per cent of an 
ester of cinnamic acid. A brown solid balsam is also obtained from 
this tree. It has an odor of cinnamon and contains a trace of free 
cinnamic acid and 9.7 per cent of cinnamic acid in the form of an 
ester. The oil from this plant is known as " Rasamala wood oil," 
and contains a ketone. 

Literature. — Van Itallie and Lemkes, Bot. Abstracts, 1918, 
I, p. 179. 

ROSACEA, OR ROSE FAMILY 

A family of about 1200 species of great diversity of form. With 
the exception of the flowers, there are no constant morphological 
characters. The flowers are regular and with numerous stamens. 
The tracheae usually have bordered pores and occasionally scalari- 
form perforations. The wood fibers possess bordered pores and are 
of the tracheid type. In the woody species the pericycle is com- 
posed of either isolated groups of bast fibers, or a composite and con- 
tinuous sclerenchymatous ring, being composed in part in some 
instances of U-shaped stone cells. Calcium oxalate occurs in the 
form of solitary crystals or rosette aggregates, and with the excep- 
tion of Quillaja styloids are not present. The secretion cells contain 
either tannin or mucilage. Lysigenous mucilage canals have only 
been found in Neurada. Gummosis of the parenchyma cells of the 
cortex and wood is characteristic of many of the species of Prunus. 
The gum exudes spontaneously through rifts or channels in the bark 
as the result of the pressure of the gum and collects upon the outer 
surface in the form of irregular tears. Both glandular and non- 
glandular hairs are very common to the epidermal tissues of the 
plants of this family. 

Amygdala Amara. — Bitter Almond. — The ripe seed of Prunus 
Amygdalus amara (Fam. Rosaceae), a tree native of Asia Minor, 
Persia and Syria, cultivated and naturalized in all tropical and 
warm-temperate regions. The commercial product is obtained 
mostly from Sicily, southern France, southern Italy and northern 
Africa. In commercial almonds the yellowish, more or less porous, 
fibrous and brittle endocarp is frequently present, and this should 
be removed (Fig. 131). 



BITTER ALMOND 



295 



Description. — Anatropous, ovate or oblong-lanceolate, flattened, 
more rounded on one margin, summit acute or beaked, chalazal 
end rounded or obliquely truncate, 20 to 30 mm. in length, 11 to 17 
mm. in breadth, 7 to 9 mm. in thickness; externally light brown, 
with numerous parallel veins extending from the chalaza to the 
micropyle, outer walls of epidermal cells modified to distinct papillae, 
seed-coat thin, membranaceous, easily removed on soaking the seed 
in water, the raphe extending on the more rounded edge as a more or 
less distinct ridge from the hilum to or near the chalaza; fracture 
short; without reserve layers, embryo straight, whitish, hypocotyl 
conical, 2 to 3 mm. in length, cotyledons plano-convex, sometimes 




Fig. 131. — Drupe-like fruit of almond (Prunus Amygdalus): A, whole fruit with 
distinct suture; B, longitudinal section showing fibrous sarcocarp, and thin- 
shelled endocarp; C, D, E, sections of the seed; c, cotyledons; w, hypocotyl; 
v, epicotyl or plumule. — After Focke. 



slightly unequal, plumule 1 mm. in length; odorless, except on treat- 
ment with water, when an odor of hydrocyanic acid is emitted, or of 
benzaldehyde when the seeds have been kept for some time; taste 
bitter. 

Inner Structure. — See Figs. 132 and 133. 

Constituents. — Fixed oil 45 per cent; proteins 25 to 30 per cent; 
a glucoside, amygdalin, 1 to 3 per cent; and a ferment, emulsin, 
which acts upon amygdalin, decomposing it into a volatile oil (ben- 
zaldehyde or oil of bitter almond) and hydrocyanic acid. In addi- 
tion to the protein emulsin, there is another casein-like protein present, 
amandin, both of which act as emulsifying agents in the preparation 
of emulsion of almonds. 

Amygdalin, or a similar principle, is found in the young shoots 
and flower-buds, as well as seeds, of apricot, peach, plum, cherry 
and cherry laurel. (See Wild Black-cherry Bark.) 



296 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




AT- 








Fig. 132. — Sections of almond seed: A, cross-section of seed-coat treated with 
cold potassium hydrate solution and showing outer epidermis (E), inner 
epidermis (Ei), between which is rather loose parenchyma (p), tissues of 
nucellus (N) and endosperm (En). B, parenchyma (p) with large inter- 
cellular spaces and the inner epidermis of the seed-coat (Ei). C, transverse 
section of inner epidermis (Ei) and the outer cells of the nucellus (N). D, 
more or less obliterated cells of nucellus (N) and two layers of the endosperm 
(En), which remain intact in the ripe seed. — After Meyer 




Fig. 133. — Almond meal: a, stone cells of the outer epidermis; K, brown hypo- 
dermal cells; sp, spiral tracheae of the seed-coat; ep, cells of inner epidermis 
which contain a brownish content that is not shown here; E, cells of the 
endosperm containing numerous small aleurone grains; Ca, epidermal cells 
of cotyledons; C, parenchyma of the cotyledons containing aleurone grains 
and oil. — After Moeller. 



SWEET ALMOND 297 

Amygdala Dttlcis. — Sweet Almond. — The ripe seeds of Prunus 
Amygdalus dulcis (Fam. Rosacea?), a tree like the bitter almond 
but more extensively cultivated. The commercial supply is obtained 
from northern Africa, southern France, Italy and Spain, the choicest 
seeds being imported from Malaga and known as " Jordan almonds." 

Description. — Closely resembling the Bitter Almond, but giving 
no odor of hydrocyanic acid when treated with water, or of benzal- 
dehyde when old; taste bland and sweet. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 132.) In both bitter almonds and sweet 
almonds the outer epidermal layer of the seed-coat is composed of 
characteristic, rectangular, somewhat rounded stone cells. The 
latter are from 0.070 to 0.175 mm. in length and from 0.065 to 0.100 
mm. in width; the walls are from 0.010 to 0.015 mm. in thickness 
and have numerous simple pores. The seed-coat also contains 
tracheae with spiral thickenings, associated with which are cells con- 
taining rosette aggregates or prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate 
that are about 0.007 mm. in diameter. The endosperm consists of 
a single layer of nearly cubical cells about 0.015 mm. in diameter. 
The cells of the embryo contain numerous aleurone grains, which are 
from 0.005 to 0.015 mm. in diameter and consist of crystalloids, 
globoids and calcium oxalate. 

Powder. — Usually sold under the name of Almond Meal and 
consists chiefly of the tissues of the embryo. It is yellowish-white 
in color and contains numerous fragments of parenchyma, contain- 
ing oil globules and aleurone grains; also occasional fragments of 
seed-coat with characteristic, more or less scattered, large elliptical, 
thin-walled, strongly lignified epidermal cells and narrow, closely 
spiral trachea?; numerous separated oil globules of different sizes 
and crystalloids, the latter occasionally with adhering globoids; 
few or no starch grains should be present. The so-called almond 
meal, which is used as a cleansing agent, consists of almond cake, 
a by-product in the manufacture of almond oil, to which are added 
other substances to give it a pleasant odor, as orris root (Fig. -47). 
A spurious almond meal consists of wheat middlings (Fig. 21) to 
which powdered soap and sufficient volatile oil or triple extract are 
added to perfume it. 

Constituents. — Resembling bitter almond, but containing slightly 
more fixed oil (about 50 per cent), and being free from amygdalin. 

Substitutes. — The seeds of other plants of the Rosacea? are some- 
times substituted for almond seeds. These usually have a bitter 
and more or less disagreeable taste; the outer epidermal cells in 
apricot and plum being tangentially elongated, while those of peach 



298 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



are somewhat narrower and more or less conical. For the distin- 
guishing characteristics of these and other seed-coats, consult Fig. 134. 

Literature. — Tschirch, Handbuch der Pharmakognosie, p. 605. 

Prunus Virginiana. — Wild Black Cherry Bark. — The bark 
of the stem and branches of Prunus serotina Ehrhart (Syn. Prunus 
virginiana Miller) (Fam. Rosacese), a tree indigenous to the eastern 
and central United States and Canada. The bark is collected in 




Fig. 134. — Epidermal cells of the seed-coat of: 1, almond; 2, peach; 3, apricot; 
4, plum; 5, prune. — After Harming. 



autumn, and should be carefully dried and preserved in air-tight 
containers. 

Description. — Usually in transversely curved pieces 2.5 to 8 cm. 
in length, 1 to 5 cm. in diameter, 0.5 to 4 mm. in thickness; outer 
surface light brown or greenish-brown, somewhat glabrous, with 
numerous lenticels 3 to 4 mm. in length; inner surface light brown, 
longitudinally striate and occasionally fissured; fracture short, 
granular; cork dark brown, thin, easily separable from the green 
phelloderm, inner bark porous and granular; odor of the drug dis- 



PRUNUS VIRGINIANA 



299 



tinct, and on the addition of water developing an odor of benzalde- 
hyde and hydrocyanic acid; taste astringent, aromatic. 

The bark of the trunk is dark brown and rough externally. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 135. 





Fig. 135. — Prunus serotina Ehrhart: A, longitudinal section of inner bark, show- 
ing crystals of calcium oxalate (a), medullary ray cells containing starch 
(b and d), and leptome or sieve (c). B, transverse section of stem bark 
showing cork, probably secondary periderm (a) cells of cortex (6) containing 
chloroplasts, groups of sclerotic cells (c), compressed leptome in the outer 
portion of the bast layer (d), medullary ray cells (e), group of sclerotic cells 
(/), fissures (g) between medullary ray cells and adjacent phloem tissues, 
cambium zone (i), vessel or trachea in mature wood (Jo). — After Bastin. 



Powder. — Light brown; bast fibers and stone cells with much 
thickened and strongly lignified walls; crystal fibers containing 
monoclinic prisms and rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate from 
0.020 to 0.040 mm. in diameter; starch grains nearly spheroidal 
about 0.003 mm. in diameter. 

Constituents. — A cyanogenetic glucoside, identified by Power and 
Moore as 1-mandelonitrile glucoside, a compound which has been 



300 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

prepared by Fischer by the partial hydrolysis of amygdalin and is 
isomeric with sambunigrin (d-mandelonitrile glucoside) from the 
leaves of Sambucus nigra and prulaurasin (di-mandelonitrile gluco- 
side) from the leaves of Primus laurocerasus. It also contains a 
ferment resembling emulsin; j3-methyla3sculetin (methyl ether of 
di-hydroxy-coumarin) which probably occurs in combination as a 
crystalline glucoside, the solutions giving a blue fluorescence; n. 
phytosterol; 1-mandelic acid, oleic acid; p-coumaric acid; tri- 
methyl-gallic acid; ipuranol; dextrose; sugar; tannin 2.5 to 4.5 
per cent; starch and calcium oxalate. The yield of hydrocyanic 
acid varies from 0.23 to 0.32 per cent (inner bark) to 0.03 per cent 
(trunk bark) and varies even in the bark of the same thickness 
from the same tree. When the exposure is such that the chloro- 
plastids are abundant in the cells of the bark, then the percentage of 
the 1-mandelonitrile glucoside is higher, whereas when the exposure 
is such that the cells do not take an active part in photosynthesis 
the percentage of the glucoside is lower. In the latter case the 
bark is yellowish-brown. Nichols found from 3.19 to 3.70 per cent 
amygdalin in bark on north side of trees and 2.60 to 2.97 per cent 
in bark on south side of trees. On keeping the bark for a year it 
deteriorates from 10 to 50 per cent. 

The bark of Prunus pseudo-cerasus var. Sieboldi of Japan 
contains a glucoside (sakuranin) which crystallizes in needles and 
is soluble in dilute alcohol, the solution being colored yellow with 
ferric chloride. 

Adulterants. — It is likely that the barks of other species of Prunus 
are now entering the market. They are more astringent and less 
aromatic. 

Allied Plants. — The leaves of the Cherry laurel (Prunus Lauro- 
Cerasus) are used in the fresh condition. They are oblong or oblong- 
lanceolate, about 15 cm. in length, sharply serrate, coriaceous, with 
an almond-like odor on being bruised and an aromatic, bitter taste. 
They contain about 1.3 per cent of a glucoside laurocerasin, which is 
associated with amygdalic acid; a ferment emulsin, which acts on 
the laurocerasin, causing it to be more slowly decomposed than amyg- 
dalin and yielding but half as much hydrocyanic acid (about 0.12 
per cent) and benzaldehyde (about 0.5 per cent). The leaves also 
contain a crystalline principle, phyllic acid, which is insoluble in 
water, soluble in alcohol and occurs in the leaves of almond, peach 
and apple. A glucoside resembling laurocerasin is found in the 
leaves of Sambucus nigra. 

The leaves of the Peach (Persica vulgaris), which is extensively 



RUBUS 301 

cultivated for its fruit, contain about 3 per cent of amygdalin (see 
Almond). 

The fruit of Prunus serotina consist of small, black drupes, which 
when ripe are sweet, slightly acid and astringent. They are used in 
making a wine and might be employed in other preparations of wild 
cherry. 

Literature. — Bastin, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1895, pp. 435 and 595; 
Stevens, Proc. A. Ph. A., 1896, p. 215; Ibid., 1899, p. 184; Ibid., 
1900, p. 207; Power and Moore, Trans. Jour. Chem. Soc, 1909, 
p. 243; Nichols, Jour. A. Ph. A., 1917, 6, p. 540. 

Rubus. — Blackberry Bark. — The bark of the rhizome of the 
perennial shrubs Rubus villosus, R. nigrobaccus and R. cuneifolius 
(Fam. Rosacae). R. villosus occurs in dry fields from Canada to 
Virginia and as far west as Kansas. R. allegheniensis (R. nigrobac- 
cus) or common blackberry occurs in woods in the eastern and 
central United States and extensively cultivated. R. cuneifolius 
is the sand blackberry and is found in sandy woods from New York 
to Florida and west to Missouri and Louisiana. The bark should be 
collected in spring or autumn and dried. 

Description. — In flexible, transversely curved or slightly quilled 
pieces 4 to 20 cm. in length, 3 to 5 mm. in diameter, bark 0.2 to 2 mm. 
in thickness; outer surface light brown, longitudinally wrinkled, 
with few root-scars, periderm frequently exfoliated; inner surface 
light brown, coarsely longitudinally striate; fracture short, fibrous, 
surface light brown, with oblique radiate wedges of bast; odor slight; 
taste astringent. 

Inner Structure. — The capillary lateral roots possess a thin epi- 
dermis with numerous hairs; a homogeneous cortex and an endoder- 
mis of thin-walled cells; a pericambium; a stele that is triarch and 
minus a pith. In primary roots the pericambium gives rise to several 
layers of cork, which replace the peripheral tissues from endodermis 
to epidermis; a secondary cortex consisting of starch-bearing paren- 
chyma; the stele consists of a compact mass of porous tracheids, 
thick- walled parenchyma and a few wood fibers, separated by a 
cambial layer from the leptome, which consists of several strands of 
sieve and thin-walled parenchyma. In thick roots a stereome, in 
the form of isolated strands, occurs between the parenchyma of the 
secondary cortex and cork. Rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate 
occur in the secondary cortical parenchyma. — Holm, Merck's Report, 
1910, p. 218. 

Powder. — Light brown; bast fibers numerous, long, thick-walled, 
lignified; calcium oxalate in rosette aggregates from 0.025 to 0.035 



302 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

mm. in diameter; starch grains nearly spheroidal from 0.003 to 0.010 
mm. in diameter, occurring either singly or compound. 

Constituents. — Tannin 10 to 20 per cent; gallic acid about 0.4 
per cent; a bitter, crystalline glucoside villosin, somewhat resembling 
saponin, about 0.8 per cent; starch; calcium oxalate; ash about 3 
per cent. 

Allied Plants. — Blackberries (the fruits of R. nigrobaccus, R. 
nigrobaccus sativus and R. villosus), Red Raspberries (the fruit of 
R. Idseus, a plant native to the Old World), Black Raspberries (the 
fruit of R. occidentalis, native of the northern United States) and 
Strawberries (the fruits of cultivated varieties of Fragaria chilceensis, 
F. vesca and F. virginiana) all contain about 2 per cent of malic 
and citric acids, 4 per cent of levulose, about 4 per cent of pectin 
substances and a small amount of volatile oil to which their dis- 
tinctive flavors are due. Blackberries contain in addition consider- 
able tannin and the wine made therefrom is valued in addition for 
its astringency. 

Quillaja. — Soap Bark. — The bark of Quillaja Saponaria 
(Fam. Rosacese), a large tree indigenous to Chile and Peru. The 
bark is removed in large pieces, deprived of the periderm and 
dried. 

Description. — In flat pieces 25 to 90 cm. in length, 10 to 15 cm. 
in width, 4 to 6 mm. in thickness; outer surface light brown, longi- 
tudinally striate, with numerous crystals of calcium oxalate and occa- 
sional patches of the dark-brown periderm; inner surface yellowish- 
brown, finely wrinkled, with numerous crystals of calcium oxalate, 
and occasional circular depressions, conical projections or transverse 
channels; fracture uneven, coarsely fibrous, surface porous and with 
groups of light yellow sclerenchymatous fibers; odor slight; taste 
acrid. 

Inner Structure. — Consisting only of the tissues of the secondary 
cortex, i.e., inner bark; radial rows of groups of bast fibers, the latter 
having strongly thickened walls, of irregular contour and with 
branching ends. Crystal fibers, containing monoclinic prisms of 
calcium oxalate surround the groups of bast fibers; the sieve tubes 
have simple horizontal walls with distinct sieve plates; starch-bearing 
parenchyma and crystal cells each containing long prisms, from 
0.060 to 0.200 mm. in length. 

Powder. — (Fig. 136.) Pinkish-white; very sternutatory; cal- 
cium oxalate in elongated prisms from 0.035 to 0.200 mm. in length; 
bast fibers numerous, thick- walled, strongly lignified; crystal fibers 
containing elongated prisms of calcium oxalate; stone cells more or 



SOAP BARK 



303 



less thick-walled and with simple, oblique pores; starch grains 
nearly spheroidal, from 0.003 to 0.010 mm. in diameter. 

Constituents. — The drug contains two amorphous glucosides 
amounting to about 9 per cent, which are closely related to saponin — 
one soluble in alcohol and known as quillajic acid, and the other 
nearly insoluble in alcohol and known as quillajasapotoxin; it also 
contains starch and about 10 per cent of calcium oxalate. 

Substitutes. — A spurious Quillaja is being offered at the present 
time. The bark yields less saponin, is more brittle than the genuine 
bark and is covered with a thin, brownish layer. 




Fig. 136. — Soap bark: Ca, pyramids of calcium oxalate; B, bast fibers; St, 
stone cells; S, starch grains; P, parenchyma containing starch and calcium 
oxalate; MR, medullary rays; A, parenchyma with simple pores. 



Cusso. — Kousso, Bray era. — The pistillate flowers of Hagenia 
abyssinica (Fam. Rosacese), a tree indigenous to northeastern Africa, 
and cultivated in Abyssinia. The entire panicles are collected soon 
after pollination and dried in the sun; the flowers are sometimes 
stripped from the panicles, or the panicles are made into rolls. 

Description. — (Fig. 137.) In more or less cylindrical rolls about 
30 cm. in length and about 5 cm. in diameter; branches cylindrical, 



304 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



flattened, about 3 mm. in diameter, longitudinally furrowed or wrink- 
led, internodes about 15 mm. in length, externally light brown, 
tomentose, glandular, internally, cork yellowish-brown, fibrovas- 
cular bundles in distinct wedges, bast and wood fibers yellow, dis- 
tinct, pith large, yellowish-brown; flowers subtended by two ovate, 
reddish, pubescent and glandular bracts, pedicel short, calyx tur- 




Fig. 137. — Cusso: A, longitudinal section through an expanded pistillate flower 
showing bracts (d), outer series of sepals (e), inner series of sepals (/), petals 
(g), perianth tube (k), sterile stamens (h), pistil (i). B, mature flower 
viewed from above and showing the relation of sepals and petals. C, flower; 
just before the maturing of the fruit showing pericarp (p), seed (s). D, 
mature pistillate flower as seen from above. E, pistil showing cylindrical 
ovary, slender style with hairs (h) and large, slightly lobed stigma. — After 
Meyer. 



binate, pubescent below, consisting of two alternate whrols of four 
of five obovate or oblanceolate sepals, the outer ones 10 to 12 mm. in 
length, obtuse, entire, purplish veined, persistent and becoming much 
elongated in the fruit, the inner about 3 to 4 mm. in length, becoming 
shriveled and bent over the young fruit; carpels two, ovary about 1 



RED ROSE 305 

mm. in length, the upper portion very pubescent, styles exserted, 
about as long as the ovary, stigma large, compressed, with prominent 
papillae; fruit an ovoid achene, about 2 mm. in diameter, inclosed by 
the remains of the calyx; odor slight; taste bitter and acrid. 

Powder. — Light brown; calcium oxalate in rosette aggregates, 
about 0.020 mm. in diameter; non-glandular hairs 1-celled, curved, 
thick-walled, 0.2 to 0.5 mm. in length; glandular hairs with 2- or 
3-celled stalk, glandular head unicellular or consisting of one or two 
pairs of cells; tracheae spiral, scalariform, or with bordered pores; 
sclerenchymatous fibers long, thick-walled, strongly lignified, with 
numerous simple oblique pores; parenchyma of pith more or less 
lignified and with simple pores; pollen grains few, somewhat ellip- 
soidal, 0.025 to 0.040 mm. in diameter, with three pores. 

Constituents. — The active principle appears to be an amorphous 
substance cosotoxin; several other principles have been isolated, 
but their real nature and properties have not been fully determined; 
the drug also contains about 3 per cent of an inactive crystalline prin- 
ciple, cosin (koussein or brayerin), which is bitter and acrid, and 
sparingly soluble in water but soluble in alcohol; a crystalline prin- 
ciple which on hydrolysis yields isobutyric acid; about 6 per cent of 
a resinous principle; volatile oil; tannin about 24 per cent, and about 
5 per cent of ash. 

Adulterants. — Sometimes the flowers are stripped from the 
panicles and sold as such, when the drug is known as " loose cusso." 
In this condition they are likely to be admixed with the staminate 
flowers, which, with their numerous stamens, are readily distinguish- 
able and are inferior in quality. 

Rosa Gallica. — Red Rose. — The petals of Rosa gallica (Fam. 
Rosaceae), a shrub indigenous to southern Europe and probably 
western Asia, and extensively cultivated in all parts of the world. 
The petals are obtained from cultivated plants before the expansion 
of the flower, the lower clawed portion usually being removed; 
they are used fresh or are carefully dried and preserved. The chief 
supply of the drug is from the southern portion of France. 

Description. — Imbricated, numerous, usually in small cones; 
petals broadly ovate, the upper part rose-colored and retuse, the 
lower part brownish-red, more or less rounded, acute or truncate, 
with numerous papillae and fine longitudinal veins; texture velvety; 
odor agreeable; taste astringent and slightly bitter. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 138.) The upper epidermal cells modi- 
fied to conical papillae and containing a purplish-red cell sap, a loose 
mesophyll composed of 2 to 10 rows of cells, in among which are the 



306 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




ymamxD&KC&d 



Fig. 138. — Rosa Gallica: A, surface view of the ventral or upper surface of petal, 
showing polygonal cells, the radiating line indicating the folds formed by 
the papillae. B, surface view of cells on the dorsal or lower surface of the 
petal with inner projections being sometimes of a T-shape. C, cross-section 
from the middle of the petal, showing the upper epidermal cells with papillae 
(v), loose mesophyll cells (m), some of which contain small crystals of calcium 
oxalate (fc) and starch grains (st) ; and cells of lower epidermis in which the 



ROSE HIPS 307 

fibrovascular bundles with spiral tracheae, and a lower epidermis of 
rectangular cells filled with a purplish-red cell sap. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil in a small amount; a yellow, crystalline 
glucoside quercitrin, which yields, on decomposition, quercetin; 
tannin and gallic acids. The coloring principle is soluble in water 
and alcohol and gives a deep yellowish-red color with acids; a green 
color changing to brown with alkalies; purple or violet with potas- 
sium alum or iodin solutions; and a deep blue with ferrous or ferric 
salts. 

Allied Plants. — The petals of Rosa centifolia are collected after 
the expansion of the flowers and dried; they are brownish and not 
so fragrant as those of Rosa gallica. The flowers of cultivated plants 
of Rosa damascena yield the commercial volatile oil of rose. 

Ros^e Canine Fructus. — Rose Hips. — The fresh fruits of 
Rosa canina and other allied species of Rosa (Fam. Rosacese), a 
shrub common throughout Europe and the British Isles. 

Description. — Ovoid, from 15 to 20 mm. in length, externally, of a 
red or scarlet color, smooth and shiny, and having at the summit the 
5 calyx-teeth, beyond which project the hairy appendages of the 
achenes; pericarp of a fleshy texture, becoming on maturity, espe- 
cially after frost, soft and pulpy, the pulp of the sarcocarp being 
of an orange color and an agreeable, acidulous taste; the hollow recep- 
tacle bears on its inner surface numerous small, hard achenes, which, 
as well as the walls of the former, are covered with unicellular, thick- 
walled hairs. 

Powder. — Dark brownish-red; non-glandular hairs of torus uni- 
cellular, from 0.5 to 2 mm. in length, about 0.035 mm. in width, 
gradually tapering toward the base as well as the summit, having 
very thick walls and narrow lumina; parenchyma cells with brown- 
ish-red masses of plastids; calcium oxalate crystals in rosette aggre- 
gates from 0.035 to 0.050 mm. in diameter; sclerenchymatous cells 
and fibers of seed-coat with colorless, rather thick walls and numerous 
simple and branching pores; an inner epidermis of elongated cells 
containing a brown pigment; the cells of the embryo with small, 
nearly spheroidal aleurone grains and considerable oil. 



papillae are wanting. D, transverse section through the base of a petal, the 
letters as in C. Fragments found in the powder show in addition to the 
cellular elements of the petals, a . glandular hair (E) and non-glandular 
hairs (F) which occur on the stems and sepals; and pollen grains (G). — 
Re-drawn by Haase from plates of Hans Kramer, in Ber. d. d. pharm. Ges., 
1907, p. 354. 



308 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Constituents. — Citric acid, 3 per cent; malic acid, 8 per cent; 
mucilage, 25 per cent; an uncrystallizable sugar, 30 per cent; also 
citrates, malates and mineral salts. 

Cydonium. — Semen Cydoniae, Quince Seed. — The ripe seeds 
of Cydonia vulgaris (Fam. Rosaceae), a shrub indigenous to south- 
western Asia and extensively cultivated. The fruits are gathered 
in the fall when they are ripe, the seeds removed and dried. The 
commercial supplies come chiefly from southern Russia and Portugal. 

Description. — Single or in agglutinated masses; the individual 
seeds being somewhat ovoid and compressed, with 2 or more sharp 
ridges, convex on one side and flattened or somewhat shallow 
on the other, from 5 to 10 mm. in length and from 2 to 6 mm. in 
breadth; outer surface reddish-brown or brownish- violet, more or 
less covered with adhering grayish gum; fracture short; inner sur- 
face showing a large yellowish-white embryo and a thin, reddish- 
brown seed-coat, which is easily separated by placing the seeds in 
water; inodorous; taste mucilaginous, slightly aromatic, similar 
to that of benzaldehyde. 

Inner Structure. — A mucilaginous epidermal layer, the cells being 
tangentially elongated and upon the addition of water swelling to 
such an extent as to separate the thin cuticle from the rest of the wall; 
several rows of thick-walled sclerenchymatous fibers, having a brown- 
ish-red, amorphous content; a layer of colorless, thin-walled cells; 
inner epidermis of somewhat tubular cells having a brown amorphous 
content; an endosperm composed of 5 to 7 layers of polyhedral cells; 
cotyledons of thin-walled cells, containing an oily cytoplasm and 
numerous aleurone grains, the latter from 0.006 to 0.028 mm. in 
diameter. Starch occurs only in the unripe seeds. 

Powder. — Yellowish-red or reddish-brown; fragments of seed- 
coat with polygonal, mucilaginous epidermal cells, the walls of which 
are readily stained with methylene blue ; a number of rows of scleren- 
chymatous fibers with strongly thickened walls and brown contents; 
several layers of elongated, thin-walled cells resembling the "tube 
cells " in cereals; a colorless layer with minute starch grains; and an 
inner epidermis, the cells of which contain a brown pigment. The 
perisperm consists of several layers of more or less obliterated cells. 
The outer layers of the endosperm, as well as the cells of the embryo, 
contain aleurone grains and a fixed oil. 

Constituents. — Mucilage, 22 per cent, yielding on hydrolysis 
oxalic acid, and forming arabinose, on treatment with dilute sul- 
phuric acid. It is distinguished from cherry gum and the mucilages 
of other Mimoseae in being precipitated upon the addition of creosote 



PRUNE 309 

water. Upon macerating 1 gm. of cydonium with 50 parts of water, 
it should yield a thick, transparent jelly. 

The seeds also contain 15 per cent of a fixed oil, amygdalin, 
emulsin, tannic acid, a coloring principle, and 13 per cent of ash, 
nearly half of the latter being combined with phosphoric acid. 

Adulterants. — Apple and pear seeds are sometimes substituted. 
They are readily identified by being ovoid, flattened, acute and 
pointed at the base, of a uniformly dark brown color and not whitish ; 
and having a smooth, shiny outer surface which is not mucilaginous. 

Prunum. — Prune. — The fruit of Prunus domestica, and of the 
var. Juliana (Fam. Rosacese), a small tree indigenous to southern 
Europe, and largely cultivated in southern France, Germany, Asia 
Minor and California, but not found growing wild. The fruit is col- 
lected when ripe and partially dried by artificial means, or com- 
pletely dried in the sun. The fruit exported from Bordeaux is of 
superior quality. 

Description. — Drupe superior, fleshy, ellipsoidal, more or less 
compressed, 3.5 to 4 cm. in length, about 3 cm. in breadth; externally 
brownish-black, glabrous, wrinkled, with two faint fines indicating 
the dorsal and ventral sutures, summit with a slight scar from the 
remains of the style, base with a depressed stalk-scar 3 to 5 mm. in 
diameter, sarcocarp yellowish-brown, fleshy, somewhat stringy, 
1.5 cm. in thickness; taste sweet and acidulous; endocarp ellipsoidal, 
flattened, about 2 mm. in thickness, externally dark brown, reticulate, 
with a groove on one side, frequently extending nearly around the 
edge, internally light brown, smooth, 1-locular, 1-seeded, occasionally 
2-seeded; seed about 2 cm. in length, 8 mm. in width, 5 mm. in thick- 
ness, closely resembling Bitter Almond (see Amygdala Amara) . 

Constituents. — Sugar 25 to 44 per cent; organic acids, as malic 
and tartaric, partly free and partly combined, chiefly with potassium, 
about 2 per cent, and water about 30 per cent. 

Tormentilla. — Rhizoma Tormentillae, Tormentill. — The rhi- 
zome of Potentilla silvestris (Tormentilla erecta), a common plant, 
belonging to the Rosaceae and indigenous to central and northern 
Europe and northern Asia. In the spring the rhizome is collected 
from wild plants and dried. 

Description. — Cylindrical, somewhat fusiform, branching and 
more or less curved; from 2.5 to 8 cm. in length and from 0.5 to 1.5 
cm. in thickness; outer surface dark reddish- or blackish-brown, 
longitudinally wrinkled, with numerous stem-scars and root-scars 
and bearing at the summit of the upper portion, young buds and their 
bud scales ; fracture mealy and somewhat horny, in older pieces more 



310 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

or less resinous; inner surface dark red or reddish-brown, with one 
or two circles of collateral fibrovascular bundles separated by broad 
medullary rays, pith large; odor slight; taste strongly astringent. 

Inner Structure. — A thick stratum of reddish-brown cork cells; 
the cortical parenchyma, containing either starch, resin or tannin, 
the walls being colored reddish-brown ; fibrovascular bundles in two 
circles (a), those near the cambium ring having on the exterior small 
groups of collapsed sieve cells surrounded by parenchyma having 
lattice-like thickenings of the wall; and (6), an inner circle of bundles 
composed of whitish wood wedges separated by broad parenchyma- 
like medullary rays; wood wedges composed of porous tracheae and 
wood fibers, among which are distributed the wood parenchyma 
containing a reddish-brown amorphous tannin content: pith com- 
posed of starch-bearing, nearly isodiametric parenchyma cells con- 
taining rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate. In young rhizomes 
starch grains preponderate, being replaced in older and more fleshy 
rhizomes by resin. 

Constituents. — Tannic acid from 18 to 30 per cent; tormentilla 
red, a product of decomposition of the tannin; ellagic acid, a trace 
of volatile oil and a resin. 

LEGUMINOSiE, OR PULSE FAMILY 

The second largest family of plants, comprising almost 8000 
species. They are widely distributed and are most numerous in 
the tropical and sub-tropical regions. They exhibit a great range 
of habit from creeping annual herbs to climbing shrubs, and vary 
from delicate herbs to very tall trees. They are characterized by 
alternate, stipulate, usually compound leaves; papilionaceous or 
sometimes regular flowers, having usually monadelphous or diadel- 
phous stamens, and a single free pistil, becoming in fruit a legume. 
It is by reason of the latter feature that the family receives its 
name. 

As to be expected in a large family like this, there are certain 
distinct morphological characters which admit of dividing it into 
smaller groups. This is done by some botanists and the groups 
given the rank of families. These are the following: 1, Papilionacese, 
those plants which produce irregular, papilionaceous flowers. They 
are also characterized in having calcium oxalate in the form of sty- 
loids or small rod-like crystals, being not infrequently inserted in the 
thickenings of the cell walls. Tannin-sacs, secretion cells, resin 
canals, lysigenous gum canals and other secretory cavities occur 



LICORICE 311 

in the species of this group. About two-thirds of the Leguminosse 
belong to this sub-division. 2, Caesalpinaceae, those plants in which 
the corollas are imperfectly or not at all papilionaceous and some- 
times nearly regular. These plants contain in addition to solitary 
crystals, usually rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate. Tannin 
sacs are, as a rule, absent or only rudimentary in their development 
and do not appear as idioblasts. The hairs are of the unicellular 
type, and are entirely wanting in the Papilionaceae. 3, Mimosaceae, 
plants in which the flowers are small and regular; calcium oxalate 
occurs either in the form of rhombohedral crystals or styloids, only 
occasionally being embedded in the thickenings of the cell wall. 
Rosette aggregates have been observed in Mimosa and Piptadenia. 
Sacs corresponding to the tannin-sacs of the Papilionaceae are com- 
mon in the strands of leptome and the contents are very various. 
The cells are exceptionally large and the contents quite various, being 
either colorless or yellowish, and readily soluble in water or con- 
sisting of a mucilaginous substance containing resin and glucosidal 
substances. In some of the members of this family the walls of the 
cells of the pericycle, the leptome and wood undergo a metamorphosis 
into mucilage, which then exudes and collects in the form of tears 
upon the outside of the bark of the branches. 

Glycykrhiza. — Licorice Root. — The dried rhizome and root 
of Glycyrrhiza glabra, and the varieties typica and glandulifera, 
(Fam. Leguminosse, sub-fam. Papilionaceae), perennial herbs, found 
growing in the countries of the eastern Mediterranean region and 
southwestern Asia and cultivated in Spain, Russia, other parts of 
Europe, England and at one time, to a limited extent, in the United 
States. There are two principal commercial varieties: (1) Spanish 
Licorice, yielded by cultivated plants of G. glabra typica, and chiefly 
exported from Spain and southern France, and (2) Russian Licorice, 
obtained from wild plants of G. glabra glandulifera or G. echinata, 
growing in southern Russia. The latter consists chiefly of large 
roots deprived of the periderm, whereas the Spanish variety consists 
mostly of unpeeled rhizomes (Fig. 139). 

Spanish (Italian) Licorice. — Nearly cylindrical, more or less tor- 
tuous, cut or broken into pieces 14 to 20 cm. in length, 5 to 25 mm. 
in diameter; crown knotty, externally dark brown, longitudinally 
wrinkled or furrowed, with few rootlet-scars, rhizome with corky 
patches and numerous small conical buds; fracture coarsely fibrous; 
internally lemon-yellow, radiate, bark 1 to 3 mm. in thickness, wood 
porous, rhizome with small pith; odor distinct; taste sweetish, 
slightly acrid. 



312 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Inner Structure. — (Fig. 140.) A periderm of numerous layers of 
yellowish-brown cork cells; a phellogen and one or more rows of 
cells of the phelloderm, the cells showing a tendency to collenchyma- 
tous thickenings; primary cortex of starch-bearing parenchyma, 
with whitish groups of bast fibers surrounded by crystal fibers; 
secondary cortex or inner bark with a very characteristic, radial 
arrangement of phloem and medullary rays, the phloem consisting 
of wedges of small groups of bast fibers and parenchyma, separated 




Fig. 139. — Original packages of Licorice Root (Glycyrrhiza) imported from 
Persia. — After a photograph by Parke, Davis & Co. 



by an almost continuous strand of leptome, the cells being very irreg- 
ular in outline and with thick, highly refracting walls, medullary 
rays 1 to 8 cells wide; wood wedges, broad, consisting of large tracheae 
with yellowish walls, small compact groups of wood fibers and starch- 
bearing parenchyma, alternating with the broad medullary rays; 



LICORICE 



313 



pith composed of somewhat polyhedral parenchyma, containing 
numerous starch grains, or prisms of calcium oxalate. In roots the 
pith is wanting. 

Powder. — Light brownish-yellow ; starch grains numerous, mostly 
single and ellipsoidal or ovoid, and from 0.002 to 0.020 mm. in diam- 




cf bf 



Fig. 140. — Longitudinal-transverse section of licorice rhizome including the cam- 
bium: P, parenchyma; T, tracheae or vessels; WF, wood fibers; C, cam- 
bium; S, sieve; CF, crystal fibers; BF, bast fibers; MR, medullary ray. 



eter; tracheae mostly with bordered pores; wood and bast fibers 
numerous, strongly lignified, very long, much attenuated at the ends, 
and about 0.010 mm. in width; crystal fibers with monoclinic prisms 
of calcium oxalate, the latter from 0.010 to 0.020 mm. in diameter; 
occasional fragments of reddish-brown cork cells. 



314 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Russian Licorice. — Nearly cylindrical, tapering, sometimes split 
longitudinally, 15 to 30 cm. in length, 10 to 30 mm. in diameter; 
externally lemon-yellow, nearly smooth, porous, with detachable 
bast fibers and circular rootlet-scars, cork if present, more or less 
easily abraded; internally lemon-yellow, bark, coarsely fibrous, 
wood radially cleft, not so fibrous as in the Spanish variety. 

Inner Structure. — Resembling Spanish licorice, but the periderm 
layers are wanting. 

Constituents. — About 3 per cent of glycyrrhizin, a crystalline, 
intensely sweet substance consisting of the calcium and potassium 
salts of glycyrrhizinic acid, which latter is an ester of glycyrrhetinic 
acid: asparagin 2 to 4 per cent (see Althaea); a bitter principle 
glycyramarin, which occurs principally in the bark and hence is less 
abundant in the Russian licorice; a volatile oil 0.03 per cent; man- 
nit; considerable starch and calcium oxalate chiefly in crystal fibers. 

Houseman claims that a 99 per cent alcohol gives an extract which 
corresponds more nearly to the amount of total resins in the drug. 
The alcohol extract in different varieties of licorice varied as follows : 
Italian 4.8; Spanish (Toledo), 4.9; Turkish-Arabic 5.4; Anatolian, 
5.5; Russian, 5.6; and Syrian, 7 per cent. He also found nitrogen 
in glycyrrhizic acid. Aqueous licorice extract contains a coloring 
principle which dyes silk a fast yellow. (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1912, 
84, p. 531; Ibid., 1916, 88, p. 97). 

Licorice is a valuable corrective for disagreeable-tasting medi- 
cinal substances. Glycyrrhizin in dilutions of 1 in 20,000 still pos- 
sesses a distinct sweet taste. (Robert, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1915, 
p. 555). 

Allied Plants. — The root of wild or American licorice. Gly- 
cyrrhiza lepidota, a perennial herb indigenous to western North 
America, is somewhat similar to Spanish licorice. It contains 6 
per cent of glycyrrhizin and considerable glycyramarin. 

A number of plants of this family contain principles similar to 
glycyrrhizin, as the root and leaves of Indian or Jamaica licorice 
(Abrus precatorius) of India and the West Indies; the root of Ononis 
spinosa, a perennial herb of Europe, and other species of Ononis as 
well; the locust (Robinia Pseudacacia) of the United States and 
Canada; Caragana pygmcea of Siberia and northern China; Hedy- 
sarum americanum of the northern United States and Canada; Peri- 
andra mediterranea, and P. dulcis of Brazil and Paraguay, also the 
root of the English walnut (Juglans regia); the rhizome of Poly- 
podium vulgare (Filices); and wild licorice, Galium circsezans 
(Fam. Leguminosae). 



LICORICE 



315 



The root of G. uralensis of Siberia is said to be only slightly inferior 
to the best kind of Russian licorice. 

Compound Powder of Glycyrrhiza. — (Fig. 141.) Consisting of 
powdered senna, powdered glycyrrhiza, washed sulphur, oil of 




Fig. 141. — Compound Licorice Powder. Fragments of Glycyrrhiza: Bf, bast 
fibers; Cf, crystal fibers; W, wood fibers; Tb, tracheae having bordered 
pores; C, cork cells, filled with a reddish-brown amorphous content; Ca, 
monoclinic prisms of calcium oxalate from 0.010 to 0.020 mm. in length; P, 
parenchyma cells containing starch grains (S), from 0.002 to 0.020 mm. in 
diameter. 

Fragments of Senna: H, non-glandular hairs with papillose walls; Le, 
fragment of lower epidermis showing a stoma (Sa); Ca, rosette aggre- 
gates of calcium oxalate about 0.010 mm. diameter. 

Fragments of Sulphur: Sw, aggregates of angular fragments of washed 
sulphur; Sp, aggregates of spheroidal fragments of precipitated sulphur. — 
Drawing by Haase. 



fennel and powdered sugar. Greenish-yellow to greenish-brown; 
when mounted in water or in solutions of hydrated chloral the powder 
shows fragments of licorice with their characteristic yellowish fibers 
associated with crystal fibers, large trachea? with elliptical bordered 



316 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

pores and cells containing numerous spheroidal starch grains varying 
from 0.002 to 0.020 mm. in diameter; fragments of Senna determined 
by their characteristic, more or less curved, unicellular, non-glandular 
hairs from 0.100 to 0.350 mm. in length, fragments of epidermis 
with elliptical stomata and their two neighboring cells and frag- 
ments with crystal fibers ; when mounted in a fixed oil and examined 
under the petrographical microscope it shows a large number of 
irregular, angular fragments of sugar, which polarize light strongly 
and are furthermore readily soluble in mounts made with water; 
upon the addition of solutions of potassium hydroxide to aqueous 
mounts of the powder, the fragments of Senna are immediately col- 
ored a yellowish-red changing to a reddish-brown. On adding 0.100 
gm. of compound powder of licorice to a test-tube, moistening with 

2 c.c. of alcohol and then adding 10 c.c. of water and boiling, allowing 
to cool and then filtering, the filtrate should be of a pale yellowish- 
brown color, which, upon the addition of a drop of solution of potas- 
sium hydroxide, changes to a yellowish-red (Senna). 

Senna. — Senna Leaves. — The leaflets of various species of 
Cassia (Fam. Leguminosse, sub-fam. Csesalpinacese), small shrubs 
indigenous to upper Egypt and southern Arabia. There are two 
important commercial varieties: (1) Alexandrian Senna, derived 
from wild plants of Cassia acutifolia, a small shrub (Fig. 142) growing 
in the region of the Nile River from Assouan to Kordofan, and 
exported by way of Alexandria and Red Sea ports; (2) Indian or 
Tinnivelly Senna derived from cultivated plants of Cassia angus- 
tifolia, growing on the east African coast, in Arabia and north- 
western India, and cultivated in southern India. The leaves are 
carefully collected and dried, the Tinnivelly variety being more 
largely used, although the Alexandrian is more highly esteemed. 

Alexandrian Senna. — Lanceolate or ovate-lanceolate; 1.5 to 

3 cm. in length, 5 to 8 mm. in breadth; summit acute mucronate; 
base unequal, acute; margin entire; upper surface pale green, 
nearly glabrous, midrib sometimes depressed, veins of first order 
more or less prominent, under surface light grayish-green, midrib 
prominent, minutely pubescent, especially near the veins; petiolule 
about 1 mm. in length; texture coriaceous, fibrous; odor slight; 
taste somewhat bitter. 

Inner Structure. — Similar to that of Indian senna (Fig. 143). 

Powder. — Light green; fragments colored reddish with solutions 
of the alkalies; non-glandular hairs, 1-celled, pointed, often curved, 
from 0.100 to 0.350 mm. in length, walls thick and papillose; cal- 
cium oxalate in rosette aggregates, from 0.009 to 0.010 mm. in diam- 



SENNA 



317 



eter, and in 4- to 6-sided prisms, about 0.015 mm. in length, usually 
in crystal fibers; stomata broadly elliptical, about 0.020 mm. in 
length and having two neighboring cells. 

Tinnivelly Senna. — From 2.5 to 5 cm. in length, upper surface 
light green, lower surface slightly pubescent. 




Fig. 142. — Cassia acutifolia : 2£, fruiting branch; F, a single leaflet; G, a pod. 
Cassia angustif olia : H, a single leaf; J, a pod. — After Taubert. 



Inner Structure. — See Fig. 143. 

Powder. — Dark green, resembling Alexandrian senna, but has 
relatively few non-glandular hairs. 

Constituents. — Senna leaves contain several glucosides which 
yield oxymethylanthraquinone compounds resembling those found 
in aloes and rhubarb; a glucosidal substance, anthraglucosennin, 



318 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



which occurs as a brown-black powder and yields on hydrolysis 
senna-emodin (tri-oxymethylanthraquinone) and senna-chrysophanic 
acid (di-oxymethylanthraquinone). (See Rhubarb.) Anthragluco- 
sennin when acted upon by alkalies produces an amorphous, black 




Fig. 143. — Cassia angustifolia (India senna): A, transverse section through the 
middle vein showing upper epidermis (E), palisade cells (P), rosette aggre- 
gate of calcium oxalate (Od), monoclinic prisms of calcium oxalate, (o), 
tracheae (G), sieve (Sg), sclerenchymatous fibers (F), lower epidermis with 
rather thick-walled cells (E). B, transverse section through portion of 
leaf between the veins showing the absence of monoclinic prisms of calcium 
oxalate, the presence of palisade cells and stomata on both the lower and 
upper epidermis, and a hair (//) on the lower surface. C, lower epidermis 
on surface view. D, upper epidermis showing stomata and a single hair. 
E, diagram of section through the middle vein, the letters corresponding to 
those in A. — After Meyer. 

powder, senna-nigrin, which also yields on hydrolysis emodin and 
chrysophanic acid. Senna also contains a yellowish, amorphous 
glucoside, glucosennin; a reddish-brown, amorphous substance, 



SENNA 319 

senna-rhamnetin, which differs from rhamnetin found in the fruit of 
Rhamnus cathartica in that the latter is crystalline and forms a 
fluorescent solution with sulphuric acid; senna-isoemodin (isomeric 
with senna-emodin), which is soluble in petroleum ether; cathartic 
acid; calcium oxalate; and ash 10 to 12 per cent. The active prin- 
ciples of senna are emodin, chrysophanic acid and cathartic acid. 
The percentage of emodin is from 0.6 per cent in Tinnivelly leaves 
to 1 per cent in the Alexandria variety. 

Power (Jour. Chem. Soc, 1913, p. 2006) recently isolated from 
Alexandria Senna in addition to the substances already referred to: 
isorhamnetin, rhein (tetra-oxymethylanthraquinone) , myricyl alcohol, 
a phytosterol glucoside, and kaempferol. From Tinnevelly leaves, 
with the exception of isorhamnetin, he obtained in addition the fol- 
lowing substances: volatile oil, salicylic acid, kaempferin, the mag- 
nesium salt of an unidentified organic acid, palmitic and stearic 
acids, also a quantity of sugar, together with some amorphous glu- 
cosidal material. Peruvian senna leaves closely resemble Tinnevelly 
leaves in their chemical composition, with the exception of the mag- 
nesium salt and the addition of isorhamnetin. 

Allied Plants. — Senna pods (Fig. 142), derived from both C. 
acutifolia and C. angustifolia, are also found in the market, either 
admixed with the leaves or sold separately; they are from 3.5 to 7 
cm. in length and about 2 cm. in breadth, greenish-brown to dark 
brown, and contain from five to seven obovate, dark brown, nearly 
smooth seeds. They contain apparently the same active principles 
as the leaves. 

Similar principles are found in other species of Cassia, especially 
in the American senna (C. marilandica), which is an herbaceous 
perennial, indigenous to the eastern and central United States and 
Canada, with 12- to 20-foliate leaves, yellow flowers and linear, 
slightly curved legumes. The leaves of senna are sometimes admixed 
with those of Cassia obovata, which are broad and obovate, while 
the pods of the latter species are distinctly curved. Mecca or Ara- 
bian senna is obtained from a variety of C. angustifolia, growing in 
Arabia. The leaves of C. holosericea, of Abyssinia, are quite hairy, 
and found occasionally in the market under the name of Aden senna. 
The leaves of other members of the Leguminosa; are used like senna 
as Cytisus purgans of southern France, Tephrosia Apollinea of 
Egypt, and Colutea cruenta of the Caucasus region. 

The root of Viviania esculenta (Fam. Geraniacese), of the East 
Indies, contains a principle resembling cathartic acid. — Hooper, 
Pharm. Jour, and Trans., 1889 (3), p. 77. 



320 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Adulterants. — In the powder of Argel Leaves (Solenostemma 
Argel, Fam. Asclepiadacese) the non-glandular hairs are 3- to 4- 
celled; in the leaves of Castanea dentata (Fig. 73), the non-glandular 
hairs are relatively few, 0.2 to 0.5 mm. in length, nearly smooth, 
thick-walled, occasionally in groups of three to eight and spreading 
from the base. The calcium oxalate crystals are numerous, in rosette 
aggregates or in monoclinic prisms, 0.010 to 0.035 mm. in diameter, 
occasionally in crystal fibers; the parenchymatous cells contain 
irregular yellowish-brown tannin masses which are colored blue with 
ammonio-ferric alum solution. 

Scoparius. — Broom. — The tops of Cytisus Scoparius (Fam. 
Leguminosse, sub-fam. Papilionacese) , a shrub indigenous to the tem- 
perate parts of Europe, and naturalized in waste places from Vir- 
ginia to Nova Scotia. The tops are gathered before flowering and are 
used in the fresh condition, or they are dried. 

Description. — Usually cut into pieces; branches alternate, pent- 
angular, 2 to 3 mm. in thickness; externally dark green, with 5 
yellowish-green wings and numerous reddish-brown cork patches, 
the younger branches somewhat pubescent; fracture short, fibrous, or 
of the larger pieces, tough, splintery; internally yellowish, bark thin, 
wood slightly porous, pith large, about 1 mm. in diameter. Leaves 
elliptical, obovate, simple about 5 to 10 mm. in length, 3 to 4 mm. in 
breadth, digitately trifoliate below; summit of both leaves and leaf- 
lets acute; base acute; margin entire; upper surface dark green, 
nearly glabrous; under surface slightly pubescent; petiole wanting 
in the simple leaves and about 5 mm. in length in the compound 
leaves, pubescent; odor peculiar; taste bitter. 

Powder. — Dark green; non-glandular hairs 1-celled, 0.5 to 0.7 
mm. in length, thick-walled; tracheae with spiral or double spiral 
thickenings, slightly lignified; sclerenchymatous fibers narrow, 
thin-walled and with simple pores. 

Constituents. — A volatile, liquid alkaloid sparteine (0.03 per cent), 
forming crystalline salt, the sulphate of which has physiological 
properties similar to digitalin; a yellow crystalline principle scoparin, 
which yields picric acid on treatment with nitric acid; volatile oil; 
tannin; ash about 5 per cent. 

AHied Plants. — Several plants of the Leguminosse are used like 
Scoparius. Spanish broom is obtained from Spartium junceum, a 
shrub indigenous to the Mediterranean region. Coronilla scor- 
pioides yields a yellow glucoside coronillin. 

Cassia Fistula. — Purging Cassia. — The ripe fruit of Cassia 
(Carthartocarpus) Fistula (Fam. Leguminosse, sub-fam. Csesal- 



CASSIA FISTULA 321 

pinacese), a tree indigenous to India, and naturalized in tropical 
Africa, South America and the West Indies. The principal 
supply of the drug used in this country comes from tropical 
America. 

Description. — (Fig. 144.) Legume nearly straight, indehiscent, 
cylindrical, 25 to 50 cm. in length, 15 to 20 mm. in diameter; exter- 
nally reddish-brown, summit acute or acuminate, base rounded, 
sometimes with a woody pedicel about 15 mm. in length and 4 mm. 
in diameter, smooth, shhry, transversely striate, on one side with 
a longitudinal groove (the ventral suture), and on the other a smooth 
line or slight ridge (the dorsal suture); pericarp hard and woody; 
internally divided by transverse partitions into numerous compart- 
ments about 5 mm. in length, each containing a brownish-black 
pulp and a single seed; seed anatropous, ovoid, compressed, about 
8 mm. in length, 6 mm. in width, 4 mm. in thickness, light brown, the 
raphe as a distinct lime on one of the compressed sides, internally 
light yellow, embryo curved and embedded in the endosperm; odor 
of pulp distinct, prune-like; taste sweet. 

Constituents. — The fruit yields about 30 per cent of pulp, which 
contains 40 to 60 per cent of sugar. The drug apparently does not 
owe its laxative properties to any of the anthraquinone derivatives 
found in senna and related plants. 

Allied Plants. — The legumes of related species of Cassia found in 
tropical America are similar to those of Cassia Fistula, and are also 
used in medicine. 

The pods of Cassia grandis (C. brasiliana), a tree growing in 
northern Brazil, Central America and the West Indies, are known 
as horse cassia. They are nearly cylindrical, attaining a length 
of 65 cm. and a diameter of 4 cm. ; externally reddish-brown, having 
a deep longitudinal groove on the ventral surface and a prominent 
ridge on the dorsal surface; prominently reticulately wrinkled; 
very woody, divided into transverse segments as in Cassia Fistula 
and containing in each compartment a large amount of a reddish- 
brown pulp and a single, broadly elliptical, light pinkish-brown seed. 
Pulp of a somewhat butyraceous odor and a sweet, acid taste. It 
contains a large amount of sugar, and small quantities of butyric 
acid and tannin. 

Tamarindus. — Tamarind. — The preserved pulp of the ripe 
fruit of Tamarindus indica (Fam. Leguminosae, sub.-fam. Csesal- 
pinaceae), a tree (Fig. 145) indigenous to tropical Africa and cul- 
tivated in the West and East Indies, from whence the two chief 
commercial varieties are obtained. 



322 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

West Indian Tamarind. — Usually a blackish-brown mass, with a 
distinct odor and strongly acidulous, sweet taste, and in which are 




Fig. 144. — Legumes of Cassia Fistula, the one to the right cut to show the trans- 
verse partitions. 

embedded numerous seeds enclosed in a loose, tough membrane; 
seeds anatropous, oblong or flattened-quadrangular, 12 to 14 mm. in 



PHYSOSTIGMA 



323 



length, 8 to 11 mm. in breadth, 5 to 7 mm. in thickness, dark reddish- 
brown, smooth, one edge furrowed, transversely striate, very hard; 
cotyledons plano-convex. 

East Indian Tamarind. — In blackish cakes, containing less sugar 
and more acid. 

Constituents. — Tartaric acid 5 to 9 per cent; citric acid 3 to 6 
per cent; potassium bitartrate 6 to 7.3 per cent, and other salts of 
organic acids; invert sugar 32 to 42 per cent; tannin (in the seed- 
coat). 




Fig. 145. — Tamarindus indica: A, flowering branch with paripinnate leaves. 
B, flower bud. C, dorsiventral (irregular) flower. D, longitudinal section 
of flower showing unilocular ovary. E, somewhat curved, indehiscent 
legume. F, G, transverse and longitudinal sections of the seed. — After 
Taubert. 



Allied Plants. — The pulp of the fruits of several species of Nephe- 
lium (Fam. Sapindacese), of southern China, resembles tamarind. 

Physostigma. — Calabar Bean. — The ripe seeds of Physostigma 
venenosum (Fam. Leguminosse, sub-fam. Papilionaceae), a woody 
climber growing in the region of the Gulf of Guinea on the western 
coast of Africa (Fig. 146). The seeds are also known as " the ordeal 
bean of Calabar." 

Description. — Anatropous, somewhat reniform or irregularly 
oblong or ellipsoidal; 25 to 30 mm. in length, 15 to 18 mm. in diam- 



324 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



cter, 10 to 15 mm. in thickness; with a brownish-black groove 
from 1 to 2 mm. in diameter extending about half way around the 
edge, containing the raphe as a narrow line, and in which is frequently 
found the remains of the white membranaceous funiculus, the micro- 
pyle occuring near one end of the groove as a slight depression ; seed- 
coat brownish-red, hard, thick, smooth, but somewhat rough near 
the groove; reserve layers wanting; embryo large, white, with a 
short hypocotyl and two concavo-convex cotyledons; inodorous; 
taste starchy. 




Fig. 146. — Physostigma venenosum: A, flowering branch. B, a single flower. 
C, flower showing ovary and part of the calyx. D, enlarged view of style 
and stigma. E, legume. F, seed. — After Bentley and Trimen. 



Powder. — Grayish- white; starch grains numerous, from 0.005 to 
0150 mm. in diameter, ellipsoidal or somewhat reniform, and usually 
with a distinct cleft and frequently with radiating or irregular fis- 
sures; fragments of seed-coat with very thick, reddish-brown cells, 
being either palisade-like in shape, or very irregular and resembling 
stone cells, but the walls are not lignified; an occasional fragment 
with tracheae showing reticulate thickenings. 

Constituents. — Starch about 45 per cent; proteins about 20 per 
cent; fixed oil about 2 per cent; ash about 3 per cent. Several 
alkaloids have been isolated, the most important of which is physos- 



PHYSOSTIGMA 



325 



tigmine (eserine), which occurs in the embryo to the extent of 0.1 
to .25 per cent. It crystallizes in rhombohedra (Fig. 147), which 
are colored red with solutions of the alkalies and yellow with sul- 
phuric or nitric acid. With the latter reagent the solution changes 
to olive-green. The aqueous solutions of physostigmine are alkaline 
and easily decomposed, with the separation of a reddish-colored sub- 
stance, rubreserine. The salicylate and sulphate of physostigmine 
are official, the solutions of the former being more stable. Physo- 
stigma also contains eseridine (isophysostigmine) , an alkaloid resem- 
bling physostigmine in its physiological action; a liquid alkaloid, 



. 


ft 


a — ^P* «*#' 














rf 


^^ 




1 


■,.^^-W^ & 


k 




J 




A& > 


■b 


L 


JSBsM ^ 


• 


f 4 


W0^ - mtk 

BE 


if 


P< 
4 


I 



Fig. 147. — Physostigmine salicylate: orthorhombic crystals from a solution in 

chloroform. 



calabarine, which is physiologically antagonistic to physostigmine, 
and a crystalline alkaloid, eseramine, which is inactive. 

In addition a new alkaloid, physovenine, has been isolated by 
Power (Jour. Chem. Soc, 1912, p. 978; 1913, p. 351 and p. 1988). 
Also the following constituents: stigmasterol; sitosterol; several 
phytosterol glucosides; a mixture of fatty acids ; sugar; and resinous 
material. 

Allied Plants. — The seeds of P. cylindrospermum have been 
substituted for Calabar bean; they are nearly cylindrical and are 
said also to contain physostigmine. 



326 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

The lenticular, brown, glossy seeds of Entada scandens con- 
tain saponin and have been offered as a substitute for physostigma. 
Canavalia obtusifolia, of the East Indies, is also said to have been 
used as an adulterant of physostigma. 

The Jack-bean (Canavalia ensiformis) contains about 23 per cent 
of protein. The latter consists of two globulins. (Jour. Franklin 
Ins., 1917, p. 119.) 

Fcenum Graecum. — Semen Fcenu Gilect, Semen Fceni Gileci, 
Fenugreek. — The dried ripe seeds of Trigonella Fcenum graecum 
(Fam. Leguminosse, sub-fam. Papilionacese), an annual herb indigen- 
ous to the Mediterranean region and extensively cultivated in 
southern Europe, northern Africa and India. 

Description. — Oblong flattened or rhomboidal; from 3 to 5 cm. 
in length and 2 to 3 mm. in breadth ; externally light to dark yellow- 
ish-brown, nearly smooth, and having on one side a diagonal depres- 
sion dividing the seed into two unequal portions, the smaller con- 
taining the embryo and the larger the cotyledons; hard, heavy, 
pebble-like; inner surface of embryo light yellowish-brown, waxy, 
of endosperm white and mealy; odor distinct, resembling that of 
elm bark; taste mucilaginous and slightly bitter. On placing the 
seeds in water they become swollen, permitting of the easy removal 
of the seed-coat. If allowed to remain for a few days in a moistened 
condition they germinate rapidly. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 148. 

Powder. — Yellowish-brown; an outer epidermal layer of mucilage 
cells beneath which occur 1 to 3 layers of radially elongated stone 
cells having triangular lumina and thick, porous walls. As seen in 
transverse section, the stone cells are polygonal in outline and have 
simple, narrow, and distinct pores; beneath the latter is a layer of 
broad, thick-walled cells with large, radiate, simple pores; the endo- 
sperm consists chiefly of mucilage cells with wavy mucilaginous 
inner walls and a single layer of small aleurone cells; the embryo 
consists of yellowish cells containing an oily cytoplasm, small aleruone 
grains and occasionally small starch grains. Aleurone grains from 0.005 
to 0.015 mm. in diameter; starch grains about 0.003 mm. in diameter. 

Constituents. — Fenugreek contains 22 per cent of proteins; 28 
per cent of mucilage (in the cells of the endosperm); 0.13 per cent of 
trigonelline (isomeric with pyridine-betaine) ; 0.05 per cent of cho- 
line; and an odorous hydrocarbon. 

Adulterants. — The powder is sometimes adulterated with pea 
flour, which is readily detected by the presence of numerous 
characteristic starch grains. Wheat middlings, which have been 



TONKA 



327 



kept for some time, acquire an odor suggestive of fenugreek or 
elm bark. 

Tonka. — Semen Tonco, Tonka or Tonquin Beans, Tonka 
Seeds. — The ripe seeds of Coumarouna odorata and C. oppositifolia 




Fig. 148. — Fcecum grsecum: A, transverse section of seed; S, tests or se^d-coat 
consisting of palisade cells (pal), with thick cuticle (cut) and thick lamellated 
walls (I); hour-glass-shaped column cells (sub); and parenchyma (p); E, 
endosperm layer consisting of cells containing small aleurone grains (a); 
and thick-walled mucilage cells (muc); C, tissues of cotyledon consisting 
of the two epidermal layers (ep) and cells containing small aleurone grains 
(al). B, surface section of tissue of the seed-coat and endosperm; C, cuticle 
and palisade cells with small lumina; P, palisade cells with thick radiating 
porous walls and large lumina; S, sub-epidermal or column cells and paren- 
chyma; E, cells of endosperm containing aleurone grains. — A, after Winton; 
B, after Tschirch. 



(Fam. Leguminosse, sub-fam. Papilionaceae), trees growing in tropical 
South America. The natives collect the fruits, crush them between 
stones, separate the seeds and allow them to dry in the sun. They are 



328 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

then shipped to Ciudad, Venezuela, or Trinidad, where they are 
steeped in rum or other alcoholic liquors and by a process of fermenta- 
tion the fragrant principle, coumarin, is developed. The seeds are 
removed and dried, when, there forms upon the seed-coats the crys- 
tallized coumarin. There are two principal varieties: (1) Dutch 
Tonka obtained from Coumarouna odorata, growing in the northern 
part of the Amazon region, and (2) English Tonka from C. oppositi- 
folia of northern Brazil and Guiana. 

Description. — Oblong-ovoid, somewhat flattened, 3 to 4 cm. in 
length and about 1 cm. in width, externally nearly black, usually 
covered with crystals of coumarin, the coriaceous testa being deeply 
wrinkled; internally yellowish-brown, consisting of two plano- 
convex cotyledons, enclosing a plumule with two pinnately compound 
leaves and a fleshy radicle which is directed towards the micropyle 
situated at the rounded end of the seed; odor fragrant; taste aro- 
matic and somewhat pungent. 

Inner Structure. — The easily separable seed-coat contains an 
outer epidermal layer of stone cells, which possess rather porous, 
somewhat thickened walls and a brownish-red or brownish-black 
content; a layer of spindle-shaped cells which are more or less undu- 
lated in outline and unequal in thickness; a layer of parenchyma of 
tangentially elongated compressed cells, interspersed with vascular 
bundles; an inner epidermis of thin-walled rectangular cells with a 
brownish content; perisperm made up of cells containing aleurone 
grains; an endosperm of thin-walled cells; the cotyledons of poly- 
hedral, thin-walled parenchyma containing an oily cytoplasm, 
numerous starch grains and aleurone grains. 

Powder. — Brownish-black; the parenchyma cells of the cotyle- 
dons with numerous spheroidal starch grains from 0.004 to 0.010 mm. 
in diameter; large, irregular aleurone grains from 0.020 to 0.035 mm. 
in length, and considerable fixed oil. The easily separable seed-coat 
contains rather characteristic stone cells, which on surface view are 
polygonal and possess rather porous, somewhat thickened walls and 
brownish-red or brownish-black contents. Beneath the stone cells 
is a layer of broad, spindle-shaped cells with rather thick walls and 
numerous intercellular spaces. 

Constituents. — From 1 to 10 per cent of coumarin, which crys- 
tallizes in various forms (Fig. 59), having a characteristic aromatic 
odor and a bitter taste. It is apparently developed from a mother 
substance contained in the fixed oil. The latter occurs to the extent 
of about 25 per cent. The seeds also contain starch, sitosterin, stig- 
masterin, sugar and gum. Ash from 3 to 4 per cent. 



LOGWOOD 



329 



HtEMAtoxylon. — Logwood. — The heartwood of Haematoxylon 
campecheanum (Fam. Leguminosae, sub-fam. Csesalpinaceae), a 
tree indigenous to Central America, and naturalized in the West 
Indies. Much of the commercial logwood being used for dyeing is 
allowed to ferment, and as a result the chips become dark red and 
have a greenish, metallic luster, but it is the unfermented wood that 
should be used for medicinal purposes. 

Description. — Usually in small chips, externally reddish-brown, 
the freshly cut surface dark ye]lowish-red, in transverse section 
slightly radiate and with numerous, alternate, yellowish and reddish 




Fig. 149. — Haematoxylin : Monoclinic tabular crystals from aqueous solution. 



concentric rings, medullary rays four cells wide; fracture hard, 
fibrous; odor slight; taste sweet, astringent; the wood imparting to 
water a violet or wine color. 

Powder. — Dark brown; tracheae with simple pores; sclerenchy- 
matous fibers long, thin-walled; crystal fibers with monoclinic crys- 
tals of calcium oxalate. 

Constituents. — Haematoxylin, 10 to 12 per cent, occurs in colorless 
or pale yellow prisms (Fig. 149), having a taste like glycyrrhizin, 
becomes red on exposure to light and is soluble in water and alcohol. 
The solutions are colored with solutions of the alkalies, purplish-red, 



330 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

then purple and finally deep red. The compound formed with 
ammonia yields haematein, a dark violet, crystalline principle having 
a green, metallic luster and which is supposed to form in the fer- 
mented wood used by dyers. Logwood also contains volatile oil, 
resin, tannin and calcium oxalate. 

Allied Plants. — The woods of certain species of Caesalpinia also 
contain red coloring principles and furnish the red woods of tropical 
America. Brazil wood is obtained from C. echinata and contains 
the principle known as brasilin, which is colorless when first extracted, 
but assumes a red color on exposure. Sappam or false sandal wood 
is obtained from C. Sappam of Indo-China. Red coloring principles 
are also found in other species of Caesalpinia and in a number of other 
genera of the Leguminosae as well. 

Santalum Rubrum. — Red Saunders. — The heartwood of Pter- 
ocarpus santalinus (Fam. Leguminosse, sub-fam. Papilionaceae), a 
tree indigenous to the southern part of Indo-China, and cultivated 
in the southern Philippines, Ceylon and southern India, the chief 
supplies coming from Madras. 

Description. — Usually in small chips or coarse powder, red or 
brownish-red, in transverse section slightly radiate, with numerous 
alternate lighter and darker concentric rings, medullary rays one- 
cell wide; fracture hard, fibrous; inodorous; taste slight. 

Powder — Reddish; tracheae with bordered pores; sclerenchy- 
matous fibers long, thin- walled; crystal fibers with monoclinic 
crystals of calcium oxalate. The coloring principle is insoluble 
in water but soluble in alcohol and in solutions of the alkalies. 

Constituents. — A coloring principle santalin (santalic acid), 
which occurs in red needles that are insoluble in water, soluble in 
alcohol, forming a deep red solution which is colored violet with solu- 
tions of the alkalies. It also contains tannin and several colorless 
crystalline principles. 

Allied Plants. — The African sandal wood or barwood is obtained 
from P. santalinoides of tropical West Africa. Cam-wood or African 
red-wood (obtained from Baphia nitida, in Sierra Leone) is also valued 
on account of its red coloring principle. 

Acacia. — Gum Arabic. — A dried, gummy exudation from the 
stem and branches of Acacia Senegal and probably other species of 
Acacia (Fam. Leguminosae, sub-fam. Mimosaceae), trees growing in 
sandy soil and forming forests in tropical Africa. The gum exudes 
spontaneously from the bark of the tree and is apparently formed 
by the action of a ferment on the cell-contents, as it does not contain 
any remains of cell walls. The trees are also incised, which increases 



ACACIA 331 

the production of gum. The more or less hardened pieces are col- 
lected and then sorted into different grades, the market supplies 
being obtained from Egypt by way of Alexandria (Kordofan gum), 
from the Soudan by way of Suakin (" Turkey sorts " and " Trieste 
picked "'), and from Senegambia by way of the port of St. Louis. 
The Kordofan gum is considered to be the best. The best grade of 
gum Arabic (gum Senegal) is obtained from Acacia Senegal and A. 
glaucophylla, both of tropical Africa. 

Description. — In roundish tears of variable size, or broken into 
angular fragments; externally whitish or yellowish-white, with 
numerous minute fissures; translucent; very brittle, with a glass- 
like, sometimes iridescent fracture; nearly inodorous; taste mucil- 
aginous. 

Acacia is not soluble in alcohol, but is completely soluble in cold 
water; the solution is adhesive, gives an acid reaction with litmus 
paper. 10 c.c. of a 10 per cent solution does not yield a gelatinous 
precipitate with 0.2 c.c. of normal lead acetate test solution, but is 
precipitated with 0.1 c.c. of a test solution of ferric chloride (Mesquite 
gum is not precipitated); a cold solution does not give a bluish or 
reddish color with iodin (absence of artificial gums containing starch 
or dextrin), or a brownish-black precipitate with solutions of ferric 
chloride (absence of gum of Australian species). A 10 per cent aque- 
ous solution of acacia when examined by the polariscope should 
show but a slight lsevorotation. The U. S. Bureau of Standards 
proposed a method for the quantitative estimation of Gum Arabic 
using an alcoholic-copper acetate-ammonia solution. 

Powder. — Oyster- white; soluble in cold water, forming a sticky 
paste and containing few or no altered or unaltered starch grains or 
vegetable tissues. 

Constituents. — A crystalline glucoside, which is apparently arabic 
acid (arabin or gummic acid) in combination with calcium, magne- 
sium and potassium, and which constitutes the greater part of the 
gum; water, 12 to 17 per cent; ash 2.7 to 4 per cent. 

Allied Plants. — Gums with a brown or red color are obtained 
from A. arabica, A. Seyal, A. stenocarpa and A. Ehrenbergiana. 
There are a number of gums which have many of the properties of 
gum Arabic, as Cape gum, from A. horrida and A. Giraffae; Australian 
or wattle gum, from the golden wattle (A. pycnantha), tan wattle 
A. decurrens) and A. homalophylla. Gums are also obtained from 
other genera of the Leguminosse, as Mesquite gum, from Prosopis 
juliflora, of the southern United States and Mexico. The tears of 
Mesquite gum are nearly smooth, light yellowish-brown to dark 



332 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

brown, more or less opaque, but translucent and glassy when frac- 
tured. The powder is of a whitish or grayish-white color. The gum 
is further distinguished by not giving precipitates with solutions of 
lead sub-acetate, ferric chloride and sodium borate. Mesquite forms 
a somewhat adhesive mucilage and can be used as an emulsifying 
agent. 

Ghatti gum or Indian gum is an exudation from the wood of Ano- 
geissus latifolia (Fam. Combretaceae), a tree indigenous to India and 
Ceylon. It occurs in yellowish-white tears with a dull rough surface 
and a vitreous fracture. It is entirely soluble in cold water, forming 
a very viscous mucilage. 

Adulterants. — An artificial gum has been prepared by heating 
starch with sulphuric acid in an autoclave, the resulting product 
being neutralized, washed and then dried. It is said to resemble 
acacia in appearance and adhesiveness. 

The powder, while sometimes adulterated with dextrin and 
rice starch, is more frequently mixed with inferior gums, especially 
the Mesquite gum. 

Tragacantha. — Tragacanth. — A gummy exudation from the 
stem of Astragalus gummifer and other species of Astragalus (Fam. 
Leguminosae, sub-fam. Papilionacese), small shrubs indigenous to 
southeastern Europe and western Asia. Some of the walls of the 
pith and medullary rays are transformed into mucilage, which exudes 
spontaneously, but is obtained in commercial quantities by making 
incisions in the bark, the gum being collected after it dries. The 
principal points of export are Smyrna and various ports along the 
the Persian Gulf; that obtained from the latter is known as Persian 
or Syrian Tragacanth and is preferred. 

Persian or Syrian Tragacanth. — In flattened, lamellated, ribbon- 
like pieces, 0.5 to 2.5 cm. in length, about 1 cm. in width and from 1 
to 3 mm. in thickness, irregularly oblong, more or less curved; 
externally nearly colorless or pale yellowish, with numerous con- 
centric ridges or lamellae; translucent; fracture short, tough, horny, 
rendered more easily pulverizable by a heat of 50° C; inodorous; 
taste insipid. 

Inner Structure. — Pieces of the gum softened in water and 
mounted in glycerin show numerous lamellae and a few starch grains, 
the latter being mostly spheroidal and single, occasionally 2- to 4- 
compound, the individual grains from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. in diameter 
and colored blue with iodin. 

Powder. — Whitish; slowly affected by water; starch grains 
mostlv single, occasionally 2- to 4-compound, the individual grains 



TRAGAtlANTH 333 

spheroidal or ellipsoidal, from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. in diameter, a 
few of the grains being swollen and more or less altered. 

Constituents. — Bassorin (traganthin), 60 to 70 per cent, which 
gives the mucilage made from this gum its peculiar density, and which 
serves to distinguish it from acacia, which contains little or no gasso- 
rin; a carbohydrate apparently in the nature of an insoluble com- 
pound of arabic (gummic) acid, which swells in water but is insoluble 
in it; arabin, about 10 per cent, soluble in water and probably formed 
from traganthin; starch; ash about 3 per cent, of which one-half is 
calcium carbonate. 

A solution of 2 gm. of gum tragacanth and 100 c.c. of water is 
neutral in reaction to litmus; gives a blue color with iodin; froths 
on shaking with an equal volume of a 5 per cent solution of potassium 
hydroxide, becoming yellow on heating; darkens slowly when 2 per 
cent of powdered borax is dissolved in it in the cold, but does not 
change in consistency even on standing two or three days (while 
Indian gum becomes slimy and stringy). 

Indian gum, or Karaya gum, is obtained from Cochlospermum gos- 
sypium (Fam. Bixaceae) and is used in India as a substitute for traga- 
canth. This name is also applied to a gum obtained from Sterculia 
urens, a tree growing in Africa and Australia. The gum occurs in 
vermiform or rounded tears, with a dull, rough surface and uniform 
vitreous fracture. Pieces of the gum, softened in water and mounted 
in glycerin, show numerous threads of a granular substance, some- 
times the hyphae of a fungus and chains of bacteria, and occasional 
fragments of a yellowish-brown or reddish-brown color, containing 
lignified wood fibers, a few rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate 
from 0.020 to 0.030 mm. in diameter, and a few spheroidal starch 
grains from 0.003 to 0.007 mm. in diameter. Although inferior to 
Tragacanth, Karaya gum has valuable properties and its commerical 
use should be extended. (See Ewing, Jour. A. Ph. A., 1918, 7, p. 787.) 

Ghatti gum is also called Indian gum (see Acacia). 

Sarcocolla is a gummy exudation of Penaea Sarcocolla and P. 
mucronata (Fam. Penaeaceae, one of the Myrtiflorae), small shrubs 
indigenous to southern and central Africa. The gum occurs in small, 
globular, yellowish-red or brownish-red friable grains, which are 
often agglutinated into masses and admixed with a few hairs. Sar- 
cocolla has a licorice-like taste. It is soluble in water and alcohol, 
and contains an uncrystallizable principle, sarcocollin, having a taste 
of glycyrrhizin ; a resin ; and a gum. 

Catechu. — An extract prepared from the heartwood of Acacia 
Catechu (Fam. Leguminosae, sub-fam. Mimosaceae), a tree indigenous 



334 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

to India and Burmah, and from the leaves and twigs of Uncaria 
(Ourouparia) Gambir (Fam. Rubicacese), a climbing shrub or liane 
indigenous to Malacca, Java and Sumatra and mostly cultivated 
near Singapore, the former being known as " black catcheu " or 
" cutch," and the latter as " pale catechu," " gambir," or " terra 
japonica." These extracts are prepared by boiling the parts of the 
trees and shrubs yielding catechu with water, evaporating the strained 
liquid to a syrupy consistence and allowing it to harden. 

Black Catechu. — In irregular masses, with fragments of leaves or 
mats upon the outside reddish-black, somewhat shiny; brittle, more 
or less porous internally; odor slight; taste astringent and sweetish. 

Inner Structure. — Pegu Catechu, when examined in water, shows 
in the residue a number of anisotropic octahedral crystals (Fig. 36), 
from 0.010 to 0.035 mm. in diameter; a few tracheae associated with 
wood fibers and leaf fragments; numerous reddish brown granular 
or amorphous fragments containing more or less rod-shaped 
bacteria. 

Catechu is somewhat soluble in cold water, and almost entirely 
soluble in boiling water, the solution giving an acid reaction, a 
dense precipitate with solutions of copper sulphate and a greenish- 
black precipitate with dilute ferric chloride solution; not less than 
70 per cent should be soluble in 90 per cent alcohol. Few or no 
starch grains or vegetable tissues should be present, and -the ash 
should not be more than 5 per cent. 

Gambir or Pale Catechu. — Usually in more or less porous irreg- 
ular cubes, about 25 mm. in diameter; externally dull reddish- 
brown; friable; internally paler, consisting chiefly of microscopic 
crystals when examined in hydrated chloral; odor slight; taste bitter 
and very astringent. About 85 per cent of gambir is soluble in 
water and about 70 per cent is soluble in 90 per cent alcohol. The 
aqueous solution gives an intense green color with dilute ferric chloride 
solution and does not yield a precipitate with copper sulphate solution. 

Inner Structure. — Upon scraping a piece of gambir and mounting 
the separated fragments in solutions of hydrated chloral it shows 
numerous acicular crystals from 0.010 to 0.030 mm. which separate 
(Fig. 36) close to the edges of the fragments, and gradually dissolve, 
leaving a few of the non-glandular hairs, which, when entire, may 
be as long as 0.350 mm., the walls being very thick and with an even 
outline; a few fragments of leaves showing small narrow tracheae 
with spiral or annular markings; a few starch grains single or com- 
pound, from 0.005 to 0.015 mm. in diameter, a number of bacteria 
are usually present. 



CATECHU 335 

Constituents. — Catechutannic acid, 25 (black catechu) or 22 to 
50 per cent (pale catechu), giving a green color and precipitate with 
solutions of ferric chloride and in other respects resembling the 
tannin in oak bark, kino and krameria; a substance somewhat 
resembling gallic acid, catechin, which crystallizes in silky needles; 
catechu-red; quercetin and ash about 3 per cent. Pale catechu 
contains in addition a fluorescent principle. 

Mangrove Extract. — The bark of the red variety of Rhizophora 
Mangle or R. mucronata (Fam. Rhizophoraceae) , contains from 17 
to 39 per cent of tannic acid. An extract is prepared and some- 
times sold for catechu. It gives a green precipitate with solutions of 
ferric salts; a reddish-black color with a solution of copper sulphate 
and ammonia; a reddish-brown color with sulphuric acid; a reddish 
precipitate with lime water, darkened by excess; and a slight redden- 
ing with a solution of stannous chloride and hydrochloric acid. It 
apparently belongs to the same class of tannins as hemlock, oak, 
rhatany and canaigre. 

Allied Plants. — Black catechu is also extracted from the wood of 
Acacia Suma, of India. The barks of a number of species of Acacia 
growing in Australia, and known as wattle barks, are used in the 
preparation of an extract resembling black catechu. The tannin of 
Acacia arabica and of several species of Caesalpinia yield on hydrolysis 
gallic and ellagic acids. 

A tannin resembling catechu is obtained from the bark of Eugenia 
Smithii (Fam. Myrtacese) of Australia. A catechu-like extract is 
obtained from the bark of the Mahogany Tree (Swietenia Mahogoni), 
one of the Meliceae, of the West Indies and Central America. 

An extract (known as Than), prepared from Terminalia Oliveri 
(Fam. Combretacese), a large tree growing in the dry regions of the 
Irrawaddy Valley, is used to adulterate Catechu. It contains a dark- 
red coloring principle, but apparently no tannin, although the latter 
has been reported as occurring to the extent of between 14 and 68 
per cent. 

Literature. — Ridenour, Jour. Franklin Inst., 1903, p. 417. 

Kino. — Malabar or East Indian Kino. — The inspissated juice 
of Pterocarpus Marsupium, and probably other species of Ptero- 
carpus (Fam. Leguminosse, sub-fam. Papilionacese), trees indigenous 
to southern India and Ceylon. The juice exudes through incisions 
made in the bark, and is allowed to dry in the sun. The drug is 
exported from Madras and is known as Malabar or East Indian Kino. 

Description. — Small, angular, opaque, black or reddish-black, 
translucent, glistening, brittle pieces, nearly free from dust; the 



336 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

thin laminse appearing transparent and ruby-red on the edges; 
inodorous; sweetish, very astringent and adhering to the teeth 
when chewed, the saliva being colored red. 

Kino is only partly soluble in cold water, and not less than 40 
per cent should be soluble in boiling water, the solution having an 
acid reaction and giving a dark green precipitate with a solution of 
ferric chloride and a reddish-violet color with solutions of the alkalies. 
The alcoholic extractive is about 45 per cent. The yield of ash should 
not exceed 3 per cent. 

Powder. — Brownish-red; consisting of sharp angular fragments, 
which upon the addition of water, partially dissolve, the solution 
becoming deep red in color and leaving numerous small granules, 
small rod-shaped bacteria, and a few indistinguishable plant 
tissues. 

Constituents. — Tannin, 40 to 80 per cent, which resembles 
catechutannin and gives a blackish-green color and precipitate with 
solutions of ferric chloride, a violet color with solutions of ferrous 
salts, and the aqueous solutions of which deposit on exposure to air 
an insoluble, amorphous, reddish substance, kino red; 1.5 per cent 
of kinoin, a colorless, crystalline substance, which is sparingly soluble 
in water and yields on hydrolysis, kino red. Kino also contains a 
small quantity of catechol (pyrocatechin), kino red, gallic acid, resin, 
gum, pectin, 13 to 15 per cent of moisture; and yields 2 to 6 per cent 
of ash. 

Allied Products. — The term kino is applied to various astringent 
plant juices which, while they contain large amounts of tannin, do 
not appear to be as valuable as either the Malabar or Australian 
kino. 

Allied Plants. — Australian kino (Red gum or Eucalyptus gum) is 
obtained from Eucalyptus rostrata and other species of Eucalpytus. 
It occurs in masses or small fragments, which are of a ruby or garnet- 
red color (not reddish-black), somewhat dusty, but not so brittle as 
Malabar kino. It contains 45 to 50 per cent of tannic acid; kino 
red, and catechin. About 80 to 90 per cent is soluble in cold water, 
the solution having a neutral reaction. Australian kino seems to be 
more unstable than Malabar kino and is converted into insoluble 
kino red, particularly if not thoroughly dried. 

Eucalyptus kino is also obtained from the following species: 
Iron-bark tree (E. Leucoxylon), E. Gunnii, E. obliqua, E. piperata, 
E. ficifolia, E. stellulata, E. Macrorhyncha, E. amygdalina radiata. 
Several species of Angophora yield a kino which is wholly soluble 
in alcohol and is entirely free from gum. So-called Botany Bay 



KRAMERIA 337 

(Australian) kino was at one time supposed to be obtained from 
Eucalyptus resinifera. 

Jamaica kino is obtained from Coccoloba uvifera (Fam. Poly- 
gonacese). A number of other India species of Pterocarpus also 
furnish kino. An African or Gambia kino is obtained from P. eri- 
naceus, of Senegambia. 

Butea or Bengal kino is obtained from Butea monosperma, a 
tree growing in western India and Indo-China. 

American dragon's blood, resembling black kino, is obtained 
from P. Draco, of the West Indies and Guiana. A false dragon's 
blood is obtained from Copaiba Mopane, of southwestern Africa. 

A tannin resembling kino is obtained from the Jambul tree 
(Syzygium Jambolana), of India. Tannin is also found in the root 
bark of Jambosa vulgaris, of the East Indies; the bark of Myrtus 
brabantica, of Mexico and Peru. A tannin and a coloring principle 
are found in the bark of Myrtus Arayan, of Mexico and Peru. A 
tannin and resin are found in the bark of Psidium Guajava, of South 
America and the West Indies; Speimolepis gummifera, of New 
Caledonia, and the Myrtle tree (Myrtus communis), of southern 
Asia and the Mediterranean region, the tannin in the latter plant 
occurring in larger proportion in the galls which are produced 
upon it. 

Krameria. — Rhatany. — The dried root of various species of 
Krameria (Fam. Leguminosse, sub-fam. Csesalpinacese) , small shrubs 
indigenous to South America, Mexico and the West Indies. There 
are three principal commercial varieties: (1) Peruvian Rhatany, 
which is derived from plants of Krameria triandra, growing in Peru 
and Bolivia; (2) Savanilla Rhatany, which is derived from more or 
less disputed species of Krameria (K. Ixina), growing in the United 
States of Colombia, British Guiana and Brazil, and (3) Para or 
Brazilian Rhatany, which is supposed to be derived from Krameria 
argentea, growing in Brazil. 

Peruvian Rhatany. — Consisting of a more or less cylindrical 
crown 50 mm. in length and 15 to 20 mm. in diameter, and numer- 
ous cylindrical, somewhat tapering, branching roots 10 to 40 cm. in 
length and 1 to 7 mm. in thickness; externally brownish-red, crown 
with rugged and scaly bark, roots smooth or slightly wrinkled longi- 
tudinally; fracture of bark slightly fibrous, of wood, tough and 
splintery; internally reddish, bark 1 to 2 mm. in thickness, somewhat 
easily separable from the lighter colored, slightly radiate wood ; odor 
slight; wood nearly tasteless, bark astringent. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 150. 



338 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 150. — Peruvian rhatany: A, transverse section showing cork (k), a group of 
bast fibers (sk), parenchyma of cortex (p), medullary-ray cells of inner bark 
(m), cambium (c), tracheae (t), wood fibers (sc), wood parenchyma (hp), 
medullary rays one cell in width (m). B, an isolated bast fiber. C, a wood 
fiber with neighboring parenchyma cells which are somewhat elongated 
and have somewhat thickened, porous walls. D, portion of a trachea. — 
After Mever. 



KRAMERIA 339 

Powder. — Reddish-brown; bast fibers with slightly undulating, 
non-lignified walls and sharp-pointed ends, frequently associated with 
crystal fibers; starch grains numerous, single or 2- to 5-compound, 
the individual grains spheroidal, ellipsoidal, or plano-convex, from 
0.003 to 0.035 mm. in diameter and sometimes with a central, radial 
or star-like cleft; tracheae with simple or bordered pores, associated 
with narrow, spindle-shaped, wood fibers having thick, porous, 
slightly lignified walls; numerous cellular fragments with yellowish- 
or reddish-brown walls; calcium oxalate in monoclinic prisms, 0.010 
to 0.100 mm. in length, or in microcrystals. 

Savanilla Rhatany. — Crown more or less cylindrical or truncate, 
rough, knotty; root externally dark reddish-brown, somewhat 
purplish, with numerous transverse fissures at more or less regular 
intervals; periderm not scaly; bark about twice as thick as that of 
Peruvian rhatany. 

Para Rhatany closely resembles the Savanilla variety. 

Constituents. — Tannin from 8 to 20 per cent, krameric acid, 
starch, an uncrystallizable sugar, and calcium oxalate. The tannin 
is colored dark green with solutions of ferric salts and is in the nature 
of a glucoside resembling the one found in Potentilla Tormentilla 
(Fam. Rosaceae) and iEsculus Hippocastanum (Fam. Hippocas- 
tanaceae). The tannin also yields phloroglucin and protocatechuic 
acid. 

The tincture of Savanilla rhatany forms a clear solution with 
water, which gives with an alcoholic solution of lead acetate a pur- 
plish precipitate and a colorless filtrate; the tincture of Peruvian 
rhatany forms a cloudy mixture with water, and gives with an alco- 
holic solution of lead acetate, a reddish-brown precipitate and a 
light-brown filtrate, which is not further or altered upon the further 
addition of a drop or two of the reagent, and should give an olive- 
brown solution, having a purplish fluorescence, upon the addition 
of a drop or two of a solution of ferric chloride. Aqueous extractive 
about 9 per cent. Ash about 5 per cent. 

Allied Plants. — Krameria lanceolata of the southern United 
States furnishes the Texas krameria, and K. cistoides of Chile is 
the source of the Payta krameria. The root of Leea speciosa (Fam. 
Vitaceae), of India has been used as a substitute for Krameria. 

Chrysarobinum. — Chrysarobin. Araroba Depurata. — A neutral 
principle extracted from Goa powder, a substance formed as a 
result of pathological changes in the woody tissues of Vouacapoua 
(Andira) Araroba (Fam. Leguminosae, sub-fam. Papilionaceae), a 
large tree growing in the southern portion of the province of Bahia, 



340 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Brazil. Goa powder arises in the living cells of the wood of the stems. 
The cell walls becomes metamorphosed, finally disintegrated, forming 
large lacunas, in which are deposited the altered products in the form 
of a yellowish-brown powder, which is more or less admixed with the 
tissues of the bark and wood. The trees are hewn and cut into con- 
venient pieces, the Goa powder being scraped out. The crude 
article is shipped from Brazil to Europe, where it is purified. 

Goa powder when fresh is of a light-yellow color, but on exposure 
to air it becomes dark brown or brownish-purple. It is composed of 
small, wine-colored, somewhat translucent, irregular, angular frag- 
ments, with a few fragments of tracheae and libriform cells having 
bordered pores. It is nearly insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol, 
chloroform and solutions of the alkalies, the latter being colored deep 
red and showing a green fluorescence. It should contain between 
50 and 75 per cent of a neutral principle, chrysarobin, which is official 
in several of the Pharmacopoeias. It also contains about 2 per cent 
of resin; 7 per cent of bitter extractive; a small amount of chryso- 
phanic acid, and yields about 3 per cent of ash. Under the micro- 
scope the powder sometimes shows colorless prismatic crystals. 

Hesse considers that the therapeutic activity of the drug is due to 
two anthranols. (Pharm. Jour., 1917, p. 353.) 

Chrysarobin or purified Goa powder is a golden yellow crystalline 
powder, becoming dark brown on exposure to the air and is inodorous 
and tasteless. It consists of needle-shaped crystals or large prisms, 
frequently united in spheroidal or irregular aggregates. Upon mix- 
ing 0.001 gm. of chrysarobin with 2000 c.c. of hot water, a light yel- 
lowish or brownish solution is obtained, which does not change litmus 
paper, nor give a precipitate with solutions of ferric salts. Upon 
treating chrysarobin with ammonia or lime water and exposing it to 
air for a day or so it assumes a carmine-like color changing to violet, 
due to its oxidation to chrysophanic acid. With either sulphuric 
acid, or strong solution of the alkalies, chrysarobin is colored red. 
It is almost insoluble in dilute solutions of the alkalies. 

Copaiba. — Balsamum Copaiv^e; Balsam Copaiva or Balsam 
of Copaiba. — An oleo-resin obtained from several species of Copaiba 
(Fam. Leguminosse, sub-fam. Csesalpinacese), trees growing in trop- 
ical South America. The oleo-resin is formed in schizo-lysigenous 
cavities, being a metamorphosed product of the cell walls of the 
wood parenchyma. The cavities increase in size, unite with each 
other to form large reservoirs, holding sometimes from 40 to 50 L. of 
oleo-resin. It exudes spontaneously, but is usually obtained by 
making incisions into the heartwood, about 60 cm. from the ground. 



COPAIBA 341 

There are two principal commercial varieties: (1) Para or Maran- 
ham Copaiba obtained from Copaiba Langsdorffii and C. coriacea, 
which is optically lsevogyrate. (2) Maracaibo or Venezuela Copaiba 
from Copaiba officinalis and Guyanensis, which is more viscid, darker 
in color and dextrogyrate. 

Description. — A pale yellowish to yellowish-brown, viscid liquid, 
more or less transparent and highly refracting, sometimes slightly 
fluorescent, having a distinct aromatic odor and a bitter, acrid, per- 
sistent taste. It is soluble in absolute alcohol, chloroform, ether, and 
carbon disulphide. When gently heated it should not emit an odor 
of oil of turpentine or colophony. Upon mixing 3 gm. of the oleo- 
resin with 2 c.c. of petroleum ether it should yield a clear solution 
(distinction from Gurjun Balsam). Upon mixing 1 gm. of Copaiba 
with 3 c.c. of alcohol, heating to boiling for one minute and allowing 
it to cool, the liquid should remain clear without the separation of 
oily globules (absence of liquid paraffin or castor oil). 

Constituents. — Volatile oil from 40 to 65 per cent, containing 
caryophyllene. which also occurs in Oil of Cloves; resin acids from 35 
to 40 per cent; a small quantity of a bitter principle and an indiffer- 
ent resin acid, resene. 

Allied Plants. — Trinidad Copaiba is obtained from Copaiba 
Jacquini and possesses a terebinthinate odor. African Copaiba, 
obtained from an unknown tree of western Africa, contains 10 per 
cent of water and yields from 40 to 45 per cent of a volatile oil, which 
is free from caryophyllene. 

Adulterants. — Oil of turpentine, Gurjun balsam, castor oil, olive 
oil, liquid paraffin, colophony and styrax. 

Balsamtjm Peruviantjm. — Balsam of Peru or Peru Balsam. — 
A balsam obtained from Toluifera Pereirse (Fam. Leguminosse, sub- 
fam. Papilionaceae), an evergreen tree with a short, thick trunk, 
growing in the mountainous forests on the coast of Salvador, Central 
America. Tschirch considers the tree yielding Peru balsam merely as 
a physiological variety of the same tree yielding Tolu balsam, Tolu- 
ifera Balsamum Pereirae. The balsam is formed by reason of mechan- 
ical injuries to the trees. Schizogenous secretion canals occur only 
in the young twigs, petioles and leaves, but are not formed in the older 
bark. The process of producing the balsam is an ancient custom, 
and is in essential points the following: During the rainy season in 
November and December the bark of the balsam trees is beaten 
with a hammer on all sides, leaving uninjured areas between, this 
being done so as not to kill the trees. The injured bark soon cracks 
and can be stripped off in rather long pieces. The cell-walls of the 



342 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

inner bark and their contents change to a balsam, due to the decom- 
position of the cell sap or metamorphosis of the cell-walls. In the 
course of a week or so, the maximum yield of balsam is obtained, and 
it soaks into the rags which have been applied to the bark. The 
rags are then collected, thrown into vessels containing water and 
boiled, until the balsam is liberated, and settles to the bottom. 
The water is decanted and the balsam poured into gourds or tin 
containers, the latter when filled, weighing from 10 to 40 K. and are 
usually shipped direct to Hamburg. 

Description. — A dark brown, viscid liquid, ruby-red and trans- 
parent; in thin layers, free from stringiness or stickiness; of an 
empyreumatic, aromatic vanilla-like odor, and a bitter acrid persist- 
ent taste. Soluble in alcohol, chloroform, and only partially soluble 
in ether and petroleum benzin. Upon digesting 1 gm. of Peru bal- 
sam with 10 c.c. of petroleum ether in a reflux condenser for ten 
minutes, and filtering, the ethereal solution should yield on evapora- 
tion a residue that is not colored bluish-green with nitric acid; nor 
should 3 c.c. of the petroleum ether solution give a green or bluish- 
green color upon shaking it with 3 c.c. of a solution (1 in 1000) of 
copper acetate (detection of Colophony). 

Constituents. — A volatile oil known as Cinnamein or Peru Balsam 
Oil, from 62 to 64 per cent and consisting chiefly of benzyl benzoate 
and a small quantity of benzyl cinnamate and other aromatic com- 
pounds. Peru Balsam also contains 0.05 per cent of vanillin; from 
30 to 38 per cent of resin esters, consisting chiefly of a cinnamic ester 
of peru-resinotannol and a small quantity of a benzoic ester of peru- 
resinotannol ; free cinnamic acid peruviol, and dihydro-cinnamic 
acid. The Peru balsam is valued according to the content of volatile 
oil or cinnamein which it contains. 

Literature. — Zornig, Arzneidrogen. 

Balsamum Tolutanum. — Balsam of Tolu or Tulo Balsam. — 
A balsamic resin obtained from Toluifera Pereirae (Fam. Leguminosse, 
sub-fam. Papilionacese), a tree growing in the lower Magdalene River, 
Colombia. The balsam is largely produced in the province of Tolu 
and from which it derives its name. According to Tschirch the plants 
yielding Tolu and Peru balsams are physiological varieties of the 
same species. Balsam of Tolu is usually considered to be a patho- 
logical product similar to balsam of Peru; this, however, seems to be 
doubtful in view of the manner in which the balsam is obtained. It 
is collected after the same manner as that of the coniferous oleo- 
resins, V-shaped incisions are made through the bark, extending 
into the wood, sufficiently to place a calabash cup so as to receive the 



BALSAM OF TOLU 343 

flow of balsam. Similar cuts are made higher up in the trees, some- 
times as many as twenty incisions being made on one tree. The 
balsam gatherer from time to time empties the exudation which 
fill the calabashes into bags of hide. These are then shipped to 
Savanilla and transferred to cylindrical tin vessels, in which form 
they are sent to Europe. 

Description. — A semi-liquid mass of a yellowish-red color, which 
gradually hardens becoming yellowish- or reddish-brown; trans- 
parent in thin layers; pulverizable, and showing numerous crystals 
of cinnamic acid; odor agreeably aromatic, suggesting vanilla and 
benzoic acid; taste aromatic, slightly pungent and acid. Soluble in 
alcohol, acetone, chloroform and solutions of potassium hydrate. 
An alcoholic solution (5 or 10 per cent) of tolu balsam gives an acid 
reaction with litmus paper, a greenish color with a solution of ferric 
chloride, and upon evaporation yields crystals of cinnamic acid. 

Constituents. — About 7 per cent of an aromatic volatile oil, con- 
sisting chiefly of benzyl benzoate and a small quantity of benzyl 
cinnamate; from 0.2 to 1 per cent of a fight volatile oil having a 
pleasant, aromatic odor, suggestive of hyacinth. From 75 to 80 
per cent of a resin consisting chiefly of a cinnamic ester of tolu- 
resinotannol, and a small quantity of a benzoic ester of tolu-resino- 
tannol. Tolu balsam also contains 0.25 per cent of vanillin; 12 to 
15 per cent of free cinnamic acid and from 1 to 2 per cent of free 
benzoic acid. 

Literature. — Cocking and Kettle, Pharm. Jour., 1918, 101, p. 40. 

Baptisia. — Radix Baptisiae Tinctoriae, Wild Indigo Root. — 
The dried rhizome and roots of Baptisia tinctoria, a perennial herb 
growing in the eastern United States and Canada. The drug is 
gathered in the fall, cut into small pieces and dried. 

Description. — Rhizome cylindrical, branching, short, from 1 to 2 
cm. in thickness; the terete roots usually in pieces, from 8 to 30 cm. 
in length and 2 to 5 mm. in thickness, externally light reddish-brown, 
longitudinally wrinkled, occasionally spirally twisted, cork some- 
what scaly and roots with long wiry, somewhat branching rootlets; 
fracture short, fibrous; inner surface light yellow, bark thick, and 
easily separable from the porous radiate wood; odor distinct, fra- 
grant; taste bitter and slightly acrid. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 151. 

Powder. — Light brown; starch grains numerous, either single 
or compound, the individual grains spheroidal, plano-convex or 
polygonal, from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. in diameter; tracheae with simple, 
long slit-like pores or bordered pores ; wood and bast fibers very long, 



344 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

F 





Fig. 151. — Baptisia: A, seedling plant in its first year, showing the primary root 
(R) y the hypocotyl (H), the cotyledons (Cot), and a stem above ground with 
three green leaves (L). B, sl seedling in its second year, showing the base of 
two aerial stems (St), developed from the axils of the cotyledons; between 
these stems is the withered base of the first shoot of the seedling. The 
young rootlets show the production of tubercles which contain the nitrifying 
bacteria. C, rhizome bearing at the crown a number of over-wintering buds, 
the base of three aerial shoots and two long roots. D, transverse section of 
part of a root, showing strands of stereome or sclerenchymatous fibers (S), 
which occur in the secondary cortex (Co); a strand of leptome (L), cambium 
(Camb.) and medullary rays (P). E, transverse section of part of root-stele; 
the hadrome or xylem (H) occurs in three rays separated by narrow medul- 
lary rays (P) consisting of parenchyma; tracheae or vessels (V). F, an ovoid 
legume, tipped with the long, curved, subulate style. G, one of the 3-foliate 
leaves, the individual leaflets being obovate. — After Holm, Merck's Report. 
1908, p. 295. 



GALEGA 345 

with sharp attenuated ends and very thick, non-hgnified walls; med- 
ullary rays 1 to 2 cells wide, having thick porous walls and containing 
numerous starch grains; starch-bearing parenchyma; fragments of 
yellowish-brown cork, the walls becoming faintly cherry-red upon 
the addition of a solution of phloroglucin and hydrochloric acid. 

Constituents. — A crystalline alkaloid, cytisine (baptitoxine), 
which is very soluble in water and alcohol and is almost insoluble in 
ether and chloroform. It also occurs in Laburnum (Cytisus Labur- 
num) . It also contains baptin, which forms acicular crystals and is 
purgative; and about 6 per cent of baptisin which occurs in crystals 
and appears to be a glucoside. 

Galega. — Herba Galegae, European Goat's Rue. — The dried 
flowering tops of Galega officinalis (Fam. Leguminosse, sub-fam. 
Papilionacese), a perennial herb common in southern Europe and to 
some extent cultivated. The tops are gathered in July and August, 
at the time of the flowering of the plant, and carefully dried. 

Description. — Stem cylindrical, hollow, from 2 to 5 mm. in diam- 
eter, pale green or greenish-brown, distinctly longitudinally ribbed or 
furrowed; leaves odd-pinnate, leaflets nearly sessile, elliptical, entire 
and mucronate tipped, from 10 to 40 mm. in length and from 5 to 12 
mm. in width, of a light green or greenish-brown color, nearly glab- 
rous; flowers about 15 mm. in length, white or violet-blue and borne 
in racemes ; calyx tube about 4 mm. in length and with long, bristly 
pointed teeth; corolla papilionaceous; fruit a flat, linear legume 
from 2 to 4 cm. in length and from 2 to 4 mm. in width with a very 
sharp, bristly pointed or thread-like summit; seeds from 4 to 6 in 
each legume, broadly elliptical, compressed from 2 to 4 mm. in 
length, brownish-black in color; odor slight; taste slightly bitter. 

Constituents. — A bitter piinciple and tannic acid. 

Melilotus. — Herba Meliloti, Yellow Melilot, Yellow 
Sweet Clover. — The dried leaves and flowering tops of Melilotus 
officinalis (Fam. Leguminosse, sub-fam. Papilionacese), a biennial 
herb indigenous to Europe and common in waste places throughout 
the United States. 

Description. — Stem from 2 to 5 mm. in thickness, longitudinally 
furrowed, light olive-green and nearly glabrous, or the young twigs 
finally pubescent ; leaves trifoliate, having petioles from 5 to 10 mm. 
in length, the leaflets obovate-oblong, summit rounded or obtuse 
margin closely serrate; flowers in small spike-like racemes; corolla 
papilionaceous, when fresh yellow, on drying, yellowish-brown, and 
about 3 mm. in length; pods ovoid, about 4 mm. in length, scarcely 
dehiscent and containing 1 or 2 seeds; odor fragrant, resembling 
coumarin; taste slightly bitter and pungent. 



346 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Powder. — Light green; non-glandular hairs, uniseriate, 3-celled; 
fragments of calyx having glandular hairs, consisting of a 2- to 3- 
celled stalk and a multicellular head; tracheae and sclerenchymatous 
fibers associated with crystal fibers, each of the cells of the latter 
having a single rhombohedral crystal; pollen grains ellipsoidal, having 
three thin places for germination of pollen tubes. 

Constituents. — Coumarin; melilotic acid, in part free and com- 
bined with coumarin; a volatile oil (melilotal) which is probably 
anhydride or lactone of melilotic acid. 

Soy Bean. — The seeds of Glycine hispida (Fam. Leguminosae, 
sub-fam. Papilionaceae), an important food plant and forage crop. 
The plant is an annual with trifoliate hairy leaves, rather incon- 
spicuous pale or violet-colored flowers, and with broad pods contain- 
ing 2 to 5 seeds. The seeds are more or less compressed, spheroidal or 
elliptical and vary in color from whitish or yellowish-green to brown- 
ish-black. The yield of seed per acre may run as high as 40 bushels. 
As a forage crop it yields when cured as high as 2 to 3 tons of hay per 
acre. The seeds contain about 5 per cent of starch and nearly 50 
per cent protein substances. The seeds are, therefore, very nutritive 
and are extensively used in feeding of live stock. In Japan the seeds 
are known as " Soy," being derived from the Japanese word " Shoyu," 
in allusion to a preparation made from the seeds. In Europe it is 
also used to a limited extent as a food. In this country it is used to 
some extent as a food for persons suffering from diabetes. 

Literature. — Manufacture of oil. Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1918, 
90, p. 139. 

Trifolium. — Red Clover Blossoms. — The flowering heads of 
Trifolium pratense (Fam. Leguminosae, sub-fam. Papilionaceae), 
a perennial herb commonly cultivated for fodder and naturalized 
throughout the United States. 

Description. — Heads globose or ovoid, from 1.5 to 3 cm. in length, 
consisting of numerous purplish-red or pinkish-brown papilionaceous 
flowers, about 10 mm. in length ; calyx pubescent, and with subulate 
teeth shorter than the corolla; odor fragrant; taste somewhat sweet- 
ish and bitter. 

Constituents. — A volatile oil, coumaric acid, salicylic acid, myricyl 
alcohol, heptacosane, hentriacontane, sitosterol, isorhamnetin, 
together with several new phenolic substances and glucosides, a 
mixture of fatty acids and a considerable quantity of sugar. — Power, 
Journ. Chem. Soc, 1910, p. 231. 

Allied Plants. — The flowers of Trifolium incarnatum (Fam. 
Leguminosae), contain a volatile oil, a quantity of sugar, benzoic 



JEQUIRITY 347 

and salicylic acids, with apparently a trace of P-coumaric acid, partol, 
quercetin, and a new glucoside, designated incarnatrin, an alcohol, 
hentriacontane, a phytosterol, a phytosterol glucoside and a mixture 
of fatty acids. — Power, Journ. Chem. Soc, 1910, p. 1004. 

Abrus. — Abri Semina, Semen Jequirity, Jequirity, Wild 
Liquorice Seed. — The seeds of Abrus precatorious (Fam. Legu- 
minosse, sub-fam. Papilionacese), a climbing shrub common to tropical 
and sub-tropical countries of both hemispheres. The roots are 
known as Wild or Indian liquorice and contain 1.5 per cent of a sub- 
stance resembling glycyrrhizin. They also contain 8 per cent of an 
acrid resin and a small quantity of an alkaloid, abrine, which pre- 
cludes the root being substituted for glycyrrhiza. The leaves yield 
about 10 per cent of glycyrrhizin. The seeds have been employed in 
the making of rosaries and are known as prayer beads. Owing to 
their toxic properties, care should be exercised when they are used by 
children. 

Description. — Ovoid, globular, from 5 to 9 mm. in length, hard, 
smooth and shining, of two distinct colors, the lower or hilum por- 
tion scarlet red and with a large lenticular scar; the upper portion 
purplish-black; testa, shell-like and enclosing a light yellowish- 
brown embryo having two large cotyledons and an incurved radicle. 

Inner Structure. — Epidermis of palisade-like stone cells having 
characteristic thickened walls and containing either a reddish pig- 
ment, colored orange-red upon the addition of solutions of the alkalies, 
or a violet pigment in the blackish layers; a layer of peculiarly thick- 
ened cells having large intercellular spaces; a broad strand of paren- 
chyma; perisperm of thin-walled mucilage cells; cotyledons of poly- 
hedral parenchyma cells with thick porous walls, and containing 
a granular content which is apparently neither starch nor aleurone. 

Constituents. — Abrin (jequiritin), an agglutinating phytalbu- 
mose, resembling in its physiological action ricin. It is very toxic, 
is soluble in a solution of sodium chloride and decomposed upon heat- 
ing to 85° C. Recent researches show it to be composed of abrusal- 
bumin (a-phytalbumose) and abrusglobin. It also contains an en- 
zyme, abric acid and a coloring principle. 

Phaseolus Multiflorus. — Scarlet Runner Bean. — A well- 
known, largely used vegetable (Fam. Leguminosse, sub-fam. Papilion- 
acese). It has been stated that the roots of this plant are narcotic 
and poisonous. A chemical examination was made of a quantity 
of roots which were obtained from plants cultivated at Dartford, 
Kent, and the following products were isolated: an enzyme which 
hydrolyzed amygdalin; a small amount of an essential oil; furan- 



348 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

0-carboxylic acid; allantoin; a phytosterol; small amounts of a 
phytosterol glucoside and pentatriacontane; a new crystalline glu- 
coside, phaseosaponin, and a mixture of fatty acids. The roots also 
contain some resin and amorphous glucosidic material and a quan- 
tity of reducing sugar. No alkaloid was present, nor could any 
trace of a compound capable of yielding hydrogen cyanide be detected. 
Physiological tests, in conjunction with the results of the chemical 
examination, afforded no evidence that the roots of the scarlet runner 
bean, as obtained from cultivated plants, possess the toxic properties 
ascribed to them. — Power, Pharm. Jour., 1913, p. 550. 

Erythrophloeum Guineense. — The bark of Erythrophloeum 
Guineense (Fam. Leguminosse, sub-fam. Caesalpinacese), a tree 
indigenous to central and western Africa. The bark of the tree is 
also known as sassy bark, casca bark, doom bark, and in the vernac- 
ular of the Congo as Nkasa. It has been employed by the natives of 
western Africa as an ordeal in their trials for witchcraft and sorcery, 
as well as for other criminal purposes, and apparently also enters into 
the composition of the arrow-poison of the Pigmies. A chemical 
examination of the bark resulted in the isolation of several well- 
known compounds and the presence of a highly toxic alkaloid, desig- 
nated by previous investigators as erythrophleine. Neither this 
alkaloid nor its salts could, however, be obtained in a crystalline 
state. — Power, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1912, p. 337. 

Robinia Pseudo-acacia or common locust (Fam. Leguminosse, 
sub-fam. Papilionaceae). — The bark of this well-known tree possesses 
highly poisonous properties. These are due to the presence of a 
protein, Robin, which is soluble in water. — Power, Amer. Jour. 
Pharm., 1913, p. 339. 

Denis Ulignosa (Fam. Leguminosse, sub-fam. Papilionacese). — 
The stem of this species of Derris is used in the Far East as a fish 
poison. The material employed for its investigation was obtained 
from the Fiji Islands. It was ascertained that the poisonous prop- 
erty resides in a resin, which, together with other constituents of 
the drug, was chemically examined. — Power, Proc. A. Ph. A., 1902, 
p. 296. 

GERANIACE.E, OR GERANIUM FAMILY 

A small family of about 500 species, native to temperate cli- 
mates and most abundant in South Africa. The flowers are perfect, 
regular, 5-merous and hypogynous. The fruit is an elastically 
dehiscent capsule separating with their long styles from the axis. 



GERANIUM 349 

Among the anatomical characters peculiar to the plants of this 
family, the following may be mentioned. Schizogenous secretory 
cavities containing either an amorphous or crystalline brownish-red 
substance are found in a number of species of Oxalis. Tannin- 
secreting cells are common in the roots of Geranium. Calcium oxa- 
late is secreted usually in the form of solitary crystals or rosette 
aggregates, raphides occurring only in the mucilage cells of Impatiens. 
In the pericycle there occur either isolated groups of bast fibers or a 
composite and continuous ring of sclerenchymatous tissues. The 
tracheae have either simple porous walls or annular and spiral thick- 
enings. Myrosin cells, which are characteristic of the Cruciferse and 
have already been described, occur in Tropaeolum. 

Geeanium. — Wild or Spotted Cranesbill. — The dried rhizome 
of Geranium maculatum (Fam. Geraniacese), a perennial herb, 
indigenous to Canada and the eastern and central United States. 
The rhizome is collected in the late summer or early autumn. 

Description. — Horizontal, cylindrical, tuberculate, or irregularly 
curved, 2.5 to 5 cm. in length, 3 to 10 mm. in diameter; externally 
dark brown, wrinkled, upper and side portions with numerous buds 
or circular stem-scars, under surface with numerous root-scars; frac- 
ture short; internally light brown, bark thin, wood indistinct, pith 
large; odor slight; taste astringent. 

Inner Structure. — Cork consisting of several rows of tangentially 
elongated cells; cortex of starch-bearing parenchyma and cells con- 
taining rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate The stele is somewhat 
excentric, having a closed ring of cambium, of which the interfascic- 
ular is especially developed. Fibrovascular bundles are of the col-, 
lateral type and between them occur isolated strands of leptome 
(several in each ray) which are developed from the interfascicular 
cambium; pith composed of numerous starch-bearing parenchyma 
cells and apparently free from calcium oxalate. With the exception 
of the trachea? there are no lignified tissues. 

Powder. — Dark brown; starch grains somewhat ellipsoidal or 
ovoid, from 0.010 to 0.015 mm. in diameter; rosette aggregates of 
calcium oxalate, 0.045 to 0.070 mm. in diameter; tracheae annular 
or scalariform; parenchyma with irregular tannin masses. 

Constituents. — Tannin 15 to 25 per cent, which on hydrolysis 
yields gallic acid; starch, and calcium oxalate. 

Allied Plants. — Other species of Geranium contain similar prin- 
ciples. 



350 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



LINACEiE, OR FLAX FAMILY 

A small family of herbs and shrubs having perfect, regular, 4- 
to 6-merous, hypogynous and nearly symmetrical flowers. The 
fruit is usually a capsule, containing 1 or 2 seeds in each locule, there 
usually being twice as many locules as there are styles. Of special 
anatomical interest is the mucilaginous epidermal layer in the seeds 
and leaves of Linum. Calcium oxalate is secreted only in the 
form of solitary crystals. The non-glandular hairs are of the unicel- 
lular type. Glandular hairs when present always have a multi- 
cellular stalk. The tracheae usually have simple pores and the 
sclerenchymatous fibers are generally marked by bordered pores. 

Linum. — Linseed or Flaxseed. — The seed of Linum usitatissi- 
mum (Fam. Linacese), an annual, which is cultivated in nearly all 
temperate and tropical regions, either for the fiber (flax) or seed. 

Description. — Anatropous, ovid or oblong-lanceolate, flattened, 
somewhat less rounded on one side and on one margin, summit acute 
or beaked, chalazal end rounded, plano-convex in cross-section; 
from 4 to 5 mm. in length, 2 to 2.5 mm. in breadth, 0.5 to 0.75 mm. 
in thickness; externally light brown, very smooth and glossy, the 
raphe extending as a distinct, light yellow ridge along one edge, 
outer wall of epidermal cells transparent, mucilaginous and swelling 
in water; easily cut; endosperm white, adhering to the seed-coat, 
embryo light green, straight, 3 to 4 mm. in length, 1 to 2 mm. in 
breadth, cotyledons plano-convex; odor slight; taste mucilaginous 
and slightly unpleasant. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 152). A thin mucilaginous epidermis; 
two layers of parenchyma which overlie a continuous ring of stone- 




Fig. 152. — Transverse section of flaxseed: E, epidermal cells with small lumina 
and very thick outer wall showing mucilage lamellae; PY, PO, parenchyma 
cells; ST, stone cells; P, parenchyma beneath stone cells; 0, obliterated 
cells; CO, cells with reddish-brown contents; EN, endosperm. 

cells having yellowish, porous walls and rather large lumina; a 
pigment layer, the cells having a reddish-brown content; endosperm 



FLAXSEED 



351 



consisting of from 6 to 10 rows of cells, surrounding the two large 
plano-convex cotyledons; the cells of both the endosperm and the 
cotyledons contain a fixed oil and aleurone grains, the latter being 
from 0.003 to 0.020 mm. in diameter. 

Linseed or Flaxseed Meal. — (Fig. 153.) Lemon-yellow; frag- 
ments of seed-coat with mucilaginous epidermal cells; sub-epidermal 
tissue composed of two rows of yellowish cells with rather large inter- 
cellular spaces; a layer of sclerenchymatous fibers, which are 0.100 
to 0.250 mm. in length and about 0.010 mm. in diameter and with 
numerous simple pores; several layers of obliterated cells; and a 
layer of pigment cells which are more or less tabular or polygonal, 
tangentially elongated and with a reddish- or yellowish-brown pig- 
ment, which is colored dark blue with solutions of ferric chloride. 



P — 



9 — 




Fig. 153. — Ground flaxseed: p, epidermis; c, epidermal cells with broken cuti- 
nized layer; E, parenchyma cells beneath the epidermis; /, short scleren- 
chymatous fibers; qu, colorless cells beneath the sclerenchymatous fibers; 
g, pigment cells with thick, porous walls and yellowish-brown contents; C, 
cells of cotyledons containing aleurone grains. — After Moeller. 



The endosperm is made up of 2 to 6 layers of cells containing oil and 
difficultly distinguishable protein grains. The embryo contains con- 
siderable oil and large aleurone grains 0.010 to 0.020 mm. in diam- 
eter, the crystalloids of which can be more readily discerned on 
treating the material first with chloroform and then mounting in 
an iodin solution. Flaxseed does not contain starch and the com- 
mercial product should not show more than 10 starch grains to a milli- 
gram of powder; it should yield not less than 30 per cent of a sapon- 
ifiable oil, and not more than 6 per cent of ash. 

Ground flaxseed is sometimes infested by maggots. In order to 



352 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

obviate this, it should be recently prepared and carefully preserved 
in tin cans with the addition of a few drops of chloroform. 

Ground flaxseed (flaxseed meal or crushed linseed) is not infre- 
quently deficient in oil on account of its being admixed with " oil- 
cake " or " cake-meal." The latter is the residue after expressing 
about 20 to 30 per cent of the oil naturally occurring in the crushed 
linseed, and the deficiency is sometimes made up by the addition 
of mineral oils. Ground flaxseed sometimes contains fragments of 
the cereals rye and wheat, which is partly due to the fact that these 
cereals grow in with the flax, and partly because it is sometimes 
shipped in meal or flour sacks. 

Constituents. — Fixed oil 30 to 40 per cent; proteins about 25 
per cent; mucilage in outer walls of the epidermal cells; ash 1 to 4 
per cent. 

Allied Plant. — In False Flax (Camelina sativa) of Europe the 
sclerenchymatous fibers are replaced by broad, short stone cells, and 
the epidermal cells on the addition of water eject a central column of 
mucilage. 

ERYTHROXYLACEiE, OR COCA FAMILY 

A very small family represented by 2 genera, the more important 
of which is Erythroxylon. They are mostly tropical shrubs with 
entire leaves, 5-merous flowers and the fruit is a 1-seeded, reddish 
drupe resembling that of dogwood. The anatomy of the plants of 
this family closer resembles that of the Linacese. Of special interest 
is the development of papilla? on the dorsal surface of the leaves and 
is characteristic of Erythroxylon Coca (Fig. 155). 

Coca. — Coca Leaves. — The leaves of Erythroxylon Coca, and 
its varieties (Fam. Erythroxylacese), shrubs (Fig. 154) probably 
indigenous to Bolivia and Peru, where they are extensively culti- 
vated, as well as in Java and Ceylon. The leaves when fully grown 
are picked and quickly dried in the sun. Two or three harvests are 
obtained a year. There are two principal commercial varieties — 
Bolivian (Huanco) and Peruvian (Truxillo), the former being pre- 
ferred. On keeping the leaves the alkaloid cocaine is dissipated and 
they lose their stimulating properties, particularly if they are not 
thoroughly dried. 

Bolivian Coca. — Oval, obovate or elliptical, 3 to 7 cm. in length, 
2 to 3 cm. in breadth (Fig. 154); summit acute, slightly mucronate; 
base acute; margin entire, somewhat revolute; upper surface dark 
green, glabrous, midrib with a distinct ridge; under surface yellowish- 



COCA 



353 



green, distinctly undulate, with numerous minute papillse, frequently 
with a parallel line about 4 mm. from the midrib on either side and 
extending from the base to the summit; petiole dark brown, 1 to 6 
mm. in length; texture somewhat coriaceous; odor distinct; with 
a bitter taste, and producing a sensation of numbness. 




Fig. 154. — Flowering branch of Erythroxylon Coca, showing the parallel lines 
on either side of the midrib, which are not true veins, but due to an extra 
development of hypodermal cells in this region. — After Reiche. 



Inner Structure. — See Fig. 155. 

Peruvian Coca. — Leaves usually more broken, 3 to 5.5 cm. in 
length, 1.5 to 2 cm. in breadth; upper surface light green, ridge in 
the midrib faint or wanting; under surface light yellowish-green, 
the curved line on either side of the midrib usually wanting; more 
or less fragile; sensation of numbness on tasting the drug not so 
pronounced. 



354 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



The flowers of a species of Inga (Fam. Leguminosae) are frequently- 
present. The pedicel is about 2 mm. in length ; the calyx yellowish- 
brown, about 1 cm. in length, 5-toothed, pubescent; corolla cylin- 
drical, or somewhat funnel-shaped, 5-toothed, about 1 cm. in length, 



SF_ 




Fig. 155. — Transverse section of coca leaf near the midrib: U, upper epidermis; 
P, palisade cells, some of which contain monoclinic prisms of calcium oxalate; 
M, loose parenchyma, some of the cells of which also contain monoclinic 
prisms of calcium oxalate; L, lower epidermis with distinct papillae; CA, 
monoclinic prism of calcium oxalate; SF, sclerenchymatous fibers; T, 
tracheae; S, sieve. 

yellowish-brown, very pubescent; stamens numerous, more or less 
united into a tube exserted; filaments reddish-brown. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 155. 

Powder. — (Fig. 156.) Dark green, fragments of epidermal tissue 
of more or less polygonal cells and elliptical stomata, the latter usually 
with two neighboring cells; papillae of under surface appear as cir- 



COCA 



353 



cular markings, one occurring in the center of each of the polygonal 
cells; calcium oxalate in monoclinic prisms from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. 
in diameter, occurring either singly or in crystal fibers; fragments 
of tracheae and thin-walled sclerenchymatous fibers. In the powder 
of Huanuca Coca the very long, separate hairs of the corolla of Inga 
flowers with their thick yellowish walls are occasionally present; as 
also the curved, unicellular, non-glandular hairs from the stems of 
this plant. 




Fig. 156. — Coca leaf: O, hexagonal prisms of calcium oxalate; U, surface section 
of a cell of the upper epidermis; L, fragments of dorsal or lower epidermis in 
surface section showing the papillae, in the form of circles when seen in 
surface view, also transverse sections showing the papillose epidermal cells; 
S, sclerenchymatous fibers; M, loose parenchyma. Two fragments with 
annular tracheae are also shown. 



Constituents. — Several alkaloids, including cocaine, cinnamyl- 
cocaine, truxilline and ecgonine. Of these, cocaine is the most 
important, the Bolivian leaves containing the greatest amount, or 
0.5 to 1 per cent; the other alkaloids preponderate in the Peruvian 
leaves, which usually do not contain more than one-half or two- 
thirds as much cocaine as the Bolivian leaves; the Java leaves also 
contain benzoyl-pseudotropine ; in addition, coca leaves contain a 



356 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

volatile aromatic principle; a tannin giving a green color with solu- 
tions of ferric salts; and calcium oxalate. 

It has been shown that young coca leaves contain 2.02 per cent of 
total alkaloids, or more than twice as much as the older leaves, while 




Fig. 157. — Crystals of cocaine chloro-platinate. To \ c.c. of a 1 per cent solu- 
tion of cocaine are added 2 drops of platinum chloride test solution. The 
test-tube should not be shaken, as larger and better formed crystals will 
result when the solution is undisturbed. A buff-colored precipitate is formed 
which, under the microscope, appears as large feathers or plumes, sometimes 
arranged in stellate pattern. In higher dilutions (1:600) crystals slowly 
form which "resemble carpet tacks." 

Alpha-eucaine, with the above test, forms bundles of fine needles; beta- 
eucaine, after thirty minutes, gives a few large, leaf -like forms, rosettes and 
cubes; holocaine gives small stars; acoine gives an amorphous precipitate, 
while stovaine and euphthalmine give no precipitates. None of the pre- 
cipitates yielded by the cocaine substitutes resemble the cocaine chloroplatin- 
ate in any way. — After Seiter and Enger, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1911, p. 195. 

the amount of ash yielded by them is slightly less, being 6.4 per cent. 
The constituents of Ceylon Coca resemble those of the Java variety. 
Cocaine (the methyl ester of benzoyl-ecgonin) . At 25° C. one 
part of cocaine is soluble in 600 parts of water; 5 parts of alcohol; 
3.8 parts of ether; and one part of chloroform or benzol. It is 



COCAINE 



357 



insoluble in glycerin. The individual crystals as usually obtained 
on a microscopic slide vary in length from 0.4 mm. to 2 mm. 1 

Cocaine hydrochloride occurs in two forms, the hydrous salt crys- 
tallizing from aqueous solutions; and the anhydrous, from non- 




FlG. 158. — Crystals of cocaine-chloro-aurate. To 1 c.c. of a dilute solution 
(1:300) of cocaine are added 3 drops of gold chloride test solution, avoiding 
shaking as in the case of the platinum chloride test. A precipitate immedi- 
ately forms and slowly changes from the amorphous into the crystalline state. 
Under the microscope, the crystals resemble fern-fronds, generally with a 
stellate arrangement. In dilutions of 1:12,000, similar crystals form after 
long standing. 

With the gold test, alpha-eucaine gives branching, twig-like crystals; sto- 
vaine gives large crystals resembling those of cocaine chloroplatinate in gen- 
eral structure, but differ in that the branches possess smaller branches, which 
is not the case with the cocaine chloroplatinate. Amorphous precipitates 
are given with beta-eucaine, acoine and holocaine. Euphthalmine gives 
no precipitate. — After Seiter and Enger, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1911, p. 195. 



aqueous solvents, such as alcohol. The latter is supposedly the 
official salt and is erroneously stated to crystallize in monoclinic 
prisms. At 25° C. one part of cocaine hydrochloride is soluble in 

1 Tschermak in Lossen's paper, Ann. Chem. Pharm., 1865, 133, p. 355. See 
also A. Fock, Zeitschr. f. Krystallog, 1890, 17, p. 370. 



358 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

0.4 part of water; 2.6 parts of alcohol; 18.5 parts of chloroform; 
and 4 parts of glycerin. The microscopic crystals of the anhy- 
drous salt may attain a length of 3 mm. The hydrous salt affords 
long needles or elongated plates, which, when crystallized on a micio- 
scopic slide, may attain a length of 20 mm. 1 

Cocaine Hydrochloride and Palladous Chloride, — Cocaine and 
cocaine hydrochloride give with a number of reagents, including solu- 
tions of Palladous Chloride, characteristic crystalline double salts. 2 
The crystals of cocaine hydrochloride and palladous chloride are 
prepared in the same manner as the caffeine gold chloride, with the 
exception that to the solution containing the cocaine hydrochloride a 
small quantity of hydrochloric acid is added. To a few drops of this 
solution upon a slide are added a few drops of the solution of palla- 
dous chloride, the two are mixed by means of a glass rod and the 
slide is set aside to allow the crystals to form. This frequently occurs 
almost immediately. The individual crystals vary in length from 
0.3 mm. to 1.6 mm. Skeleton crystals are also formed from 0.5 
mm. to 6 mm. in length. For illustrations of these several forms of 
crystals, consult Kraemer's Applied and Economic Botany, p. 164. 

The crystals have a strong tendency to form radiating aggre- 
gates and skeleton crystals, due, no doubt, to the fact that the sub- 
stance is only slightly soluble and the crystals therefore form rapidly. 

Ecgonine crystallizes in monoclinic prisms, which are slightly 
bitter, readily soluble in water and sparingly soluble in alcohol. 
Cinnamyl cocaine is found in commercial cocaine and occurs in 
rosettes of needle-shaped crystals which are nearly insoluble in water, 
soluble in alcohol and on hydrolysis yield cinnamic acid, methyl 
alcohol and ecgonine. a-Truxilline (cocamine) is a bitter alkaloid, 
which occurs either in an amorphous form or in large crystals and 
yields on hydrolysis truxillic acid, methyl alcohol and ecgonine. 
Truxilline occurs sometimes to the extent of 0.5 per cent in Peru- 
vian (Truxillo) leaves. Cocaine is found in the seeds and roots as 
well as in the leaves. The leaves contain a small amount of methyl 
salicylate. 

Synthetic Local Anesthetics. — A number of substances have 
been manufactured, with a view of increasing their stability, reducing 
their toxicity and their injurious effects. Their anesthetic power is 
also as a rule somewhat less than that of cocaine and most of them 

1 Valentin, Zeitschr. f. Krystallog., 1889, 15, p. 36. 

2 W. Lossen, Ann. Chem. Pharm., 1865, 133, p. 355; and Howard and Ste- 
phenson Proc. A. O. A. C, Nov., 1908, printed in Bulletin No. 122, pp. 97-100, 
of Bureau of Chemistry, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



COCAINE 359 

present the usually undesirable effect of dilating the blood-vessels or 
at least of not constricting them as does cocaine; hence some of 
them are almost always employed in conjunction with epinephrin. 
They owe their origin to the discovery that local anesthetic action 
of cocaine is due to the radical of benzoic acid in combination with a 
nitrogen-containing basic group. The simplest of these compounds, 
anesthesin, propaesin and cycloform, are, respectively, ethyl, propyl 
and insobutyl esters of para-amino benzoic acid, CeEWNH^COOH; 
orthoform and orthoform-new are the methyl esters of oxy-amino 
benzoic acids, C 6 H 3 (OH)(NH2)(COOH). All of these are too weak 
or too insoluble in water to be useful for hypodermic injections; 
they are used as local applications. Procaine is a compound of para- 
amino-benzoic acid with diethyl-amino-ethyl alcohol; its salts are 
readily soluble in water. Stovaine and alypin are esters produced 
by combination of benzoic acid with derivatives of an amino-amyl 
alcohol ; their salts are easily soluble in water, but they are much more 
toxic than the preceding compounds. Beta-eucaine is a compound 
of benzoic acid and derivative of oxypiperidin. Tropacocaine is much 
more closely related to cocaine than are the preceding. 

Cocaine Substitutes. — The relative toxicity of the synthetic sub- 
stitutes for cocaine, included in New and Nonofficial Remedies, 1919, 
p. 27, are exhibited in the following table: 

Anesthesin Non-toxic 

Propaesin Practically non-toxic 

Stovaine From one-third to one-half as toxic as cocaine 

Alypin One-half as toxic as cocaine 

Procaine Less toxic than stovaine or alypin 

Beta-eucaine hydrochloride Much less poisonous than cocaine 

Tropacocaine hydrochloride One-half as toxic as cocaine 

ZYGOPHYLLACE^:, OR CALTROP FAMILY 

The plants are mostly herbs and shrubs which are widely dis- 
tributed in warm-tropical regions. The leaves are mostly opposite, 
pinnate and stipulate. The flowers are perfect, regular and^ mostly 
5-merous. The fruit is usually capsular. The hairs are usually 
simple and unicellular, occasionally there is a metamorphosis of the 
wall to form a resinous excretion. A similar modification of the walls 
of the epidermal cells of the stipules occur in Larrea tridentata, a 
plant common in Mexico and southwestern United States and known 
as Creosote bush. True glandular hairs do not occur in the plants of 
this family. Mucilage cells and tannin-secreting cells are also 
occasionally present. The tracheae usually have simple pores and in 



360 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Guaiacum are filled with resin. Calcium oxalate is secreted in leaves 
in the form of rosette aggregates and in the axis in solitary crystals. 

Guiaci Lingnum. — Lignum Guaiaci, Lignum Vit^e, Lignum 
Sanctum, Lignum Benedictum or Guiac Wood. — The wood of 
Guaiacum officinale and G. sanctum (Fam. Zygophyllaceae), small 
evergreen trees of tropical America. Either the heartwood is used, 
or the wood from the younger twigs and stems freed from the bark 
is employed. 

Description. — Heartwood in billets from 10 to 30 "cm. in length, 
dark brown, becoming on exposure greenish-brown; wood of twigs 
and stems in pieces from 2 to 3 cm. in thickness, light yellow, becom- 
ing on exposure greenish-brown; very heavy, hard; fracture tough, 
splintery; inner transverse surface showing irregular concentric 
layers of alternating daik and yellow zones, tracheae large, dark 
brown, medullary rays narrow and yellow. 

Inner Structure. — Tracheae comparatively few with large lumina, 
rather short, having thick walls and containing a light yellowish or 
dark brownish-red resin; wood parenchyma having monoclinic 
prisms of calcium oxalate; wood fibers numerous with very thick 
walls, of an irregular contour, and containing a yellowish-red or 
brownish-red resin; medullary rays mostly 1 cell wide, occasionally 
3 to 6 cells wide, and arranged in 4 longitudinal rows. 

Constituents. — About 15 per cent of resin, the constituents of 
which are given under Guaiac resin. Also, 1 per cent of volatile 
oil, vanillin, saponinic acid and saponin. The latter principle occurs 
in large amounts in the bark and in least quantity in the heartwood. 
The activity of the drug is supposed to be due to its saponin and not 
its resin and we would naturally expect the bark to be used in medi- 
cine rather than the wood or its resin. The latter, however, is official 
in a number of Pharmacopoeias. 

Guaiacum. — Guaiac Resin. — A resin obtained from the stem 
and branches of Guaiacum officinale, a small tree growing in 
Florida, the Antilles and northern South America, and Guiacum 
sanctum (Fam. Zygophyllaceae) indigenous to the West Indies and 
the northern part of South America. The resin exudes sponta- 
neously or is obtained from incisions in the bark or by heating the 
fallen trunks. The commercial article comes chiefly from Cuba and . 
Hayti. The resin obtained from trees growing in the Bahama 
Islands is most highly esteemed. 

Description. — Usually in irregular masses; externally greenish- 
brown, frequently covered with a greenish powder; brittle, the frac- 
ture having a glassy luster and being yellowish-green or reddish- 



GUAIAC 361 

brown and more or less transparent in thin pieces; fusible; odor 
balsamic; taste somewhat acrid. 

The powder of guaiac is of a grayish color, but becomes green on 
exposure to the air, and on heating gives off an odor of benzoin. It 
is readily soluble in ether, alcohol, chloroform, solutions of the 
alkalies or hydrated chloral. It is sparingly soluble in benzol, fixed 
or volatile oils. The alcoholic solution has a brown color, which is 
changed to blue by the addition of solutions of ferric chloride, or 
oxidizing agents (as chromic acid or ozone) or through the action of 
chlorin, bromin or iodin. An alcoholic solution of guaiac is colored 
blue by enzymes. The blue color is destroyed on the addition of 
reducing substances. 

The powder when examined under the microscope shows numer- 
ous lemon-yellow or dark-brown resin masses, which when mounted 
in solutions of hydrated chloral are wine-colored at the margin; 
few fragments of tissues with characteristic sclerenchymatous cells 
and fibers; few crystals of calcium oxalate in monoclinic prisms. 

Constituents. — Several acids are present, including guaiaconic, 
guaiaretic, guaiacresinic, guaiacinic, and guaiacic. Guaiaconic acid 
(alpha resin) occurs to the extent of 50 to 70 per cent, and forms a 
brown powder, which is insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol and 
gives a blue color with nitric acid and other oxidizing agents; and 
on dry distillation yields guaiac oil and pyroguaiacin. Recent investi- 
gations show that guaiaconic acid consists of two crystalline sub- 
stances: a-guaiaconic acid and /3-guaiaconic acid. The latter crys- 
tallizes in rhombohedra and does not give a blue color with oxidizing 
agents. When a solution of ^-guaiaconic acid in chloroform is 
treated with lead peroxide guaiac blue is formed, which may be 
obtained, as a blue mass having a metallic luster, on evaporating 
the chloroformic solution. On reduction with sulphurous acid it is 
changed to a-guaiaconic acid. Guaiaretic acid (about 10 per cent) 
occurs in colorless needles and forms crystalline salts with the alka- 
lies. Guaiacresinic acid occurs in white, shining plates that are 
soluble in alcohol and give on dry distillation the same products as 
guiaconic acid. Guaiacinic acid (beta resin) occurs as a yellowish- 
brown powder and yields on dry distillation tiglic aldehyde (dimethyl 
acrolein). Guaiacic acid forms colorless needles which are soluble 
in water, but probably does not occur in the natural product, being 
in the nature of a decomposition product. Guaiac resin also con- 
tains a yellow coloring principle, guaiac yellow (about 0.7 per cent), 
which occurs in light yellow, hard octahedra that are sparingly sol- 
uble in hot water and give a blue color with concentrated, sulphuric 



362 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

acid; and a light yellow, rather thick ethereal oil (guaiac oil), which 
cannot be obtained by distillation and possesses a characteristic 
aromatic odor. Among the other constituents are vanillin and a 
yellow gum. The yield of ash should not be more than 4 per cent. 
Guaiac wood yields from 20 to 25 per cent of resin. 

Of particular interest are the decomposition products obtained 
on heating guaiac resin. On dry distillation the following sub- 
stances are obtained: Tiglic aldehyde, a colorless, aromatic liquid 
with the odor of benzaldehyde; guaiac oil; and a crystalline sub- 
stance, pyroguaiacin, which on distillation with zinc yields guaiacene 
(an aldehyde of tiglic acid). 

RUTACE£), OR RUE FAMILY 

Mostly trees and shrubs, with compound leaves, regular, 3- to 
5-merous flowers and capsular fruits. With veiy few exceptions 
they always possess schizogenous or schizo-lysigenous cavities in 
the branches and leaves, giving rise to transparent dots in the latter. 
They usually have isolated groups of bast fibers in the pericycle, in 
Pilocarpus, however, there is a composite and continuous sclerenchy- 
matous ring. The tracheae and wood fibers usually possess simple 
pores, except when the tracheae are in contact with parenchyma cells, 
when they are replaced by bordered pores. Calcium oxalate is 
usually secreted in the form of rosette aggregates, but styloids, 
raphides and membrane crystals are also present, the latter being 
especially prominent in the genus Citrus. Both glandular and non- 
glandular hairs are present, stellate hairs being quite common in 
the family. 

Zanthoxylum. — Xanthoxylum, Prickly Ash Bark. — The dried 
bark of Zanthoxylum americanum and Zanthoxylum (Fagara) Clava- 
Herculis (Fam. Rutacese). Z. americanum is a shrub or small tree 
indigenous from Quebec to Virginia and west to South Dakota, 
Nebraska and Kansas, and yields Northern Prickly Ash. Z. Clava- 
Herculis is a shrub found south from Virginia to Texas, and furnishes 
the Southern Prickly Ash. The latter, however, appears to be less 
valuable medicinally. 

Northern Prickly Ash. — In transversely curved pieces, occa- 
sionally in single quills, 2 to 17 cm. in length, 1 to 2 cm. in diameter, 
0.5 to 3 cm. in thickness; outer surface light brown to brownish- 
black, with grayish patches of foliaceous lichens, numerous small 
black apothecia and whitish lenticels; fracture short, uneven; inner 
surface light brown, finely longitudinally striate, with numerous 



ZANTHOXYLUM 



363 



rod-shaped crystals, phelloderm layer dark green, inner bark with 
groups of converging modullary rays; odor slight; taste bitter, 
acrid and pungent. 

Inner Structure.— (Compose with Fig. 159.) Periderm of 
strongly thickened and lignified cork cells; collenchyma of several 




Fig. 159. — Southern prickly ash, Zanthoxylum (Fagara) Clava-Herculis : A, 
transverse section showing cork (k), stone cells (st), groups of primary bast 
fibers (6), calcium oxalate (ca), medullary rays (m), parenchyma (p) contain- 
ing starch, oil-secretion cavities (o), sieve (s), cambium (c). B, isolated stone 
cells showing pores and lamellae. C, group of bast fibers found in young, 
thin bark and surrounded by parenchyma (p). D, longitudinal section near 
a group of bast fibers showing non-lignified bast fibers (6), calcium oxalate 
(ca) in crystal fibers, medullary rays (w), parenchyma (p) containing starch. 



rows of thick-walled, tangentially elongated cells; a more or less 
indistinct row of endodermal cells beneath which is an interrupted 
circle of small groups of primary bast fibers; inner bark of numer- 
ous starch-bearing parenchyma cells among which are included the 



364 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

secretory cavities having light yellow oily globules; medullary 
rays mostly one cell in width; the parenchyma cells as well as the 
oil secretion cavities contain numerous colorless oily globules. Scrap- 
ings from the inner surface show numerous rod-shaped crystals and 
flat prisms from 0.015 to 0.250 mm. in length, which polarize light 
with a display of bright colors. 

Southern Prickly Ash. — Transversely curved or irregularly oblong 
flattened pieces, occasionally in single quills 5 to 30 cm. in length, 
1 to 7 cm. in diameter, 1 to 4 mm. in thickness; outer surface with 
numerous conical cork-wings or their scars; inner surface free from 
crystals. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 159.) Periderm of strongly lignified cork 
in the form of rings, the successive layers being separated by 
several rows of narrow tabular cells, strongly thickened on the tan- 
gential walls; a thin layer of collenchyma; tissues of the primary 
cortex contain small groups of rather large stone cells and occa- 
sional scattered groups of bast fibers and parenchyma; the inner 
bark consists of parenchyma, a more or less indistinct leptome or 
sieve tissue and among which are numerous large, light-yellowish 
oil-secretion cavities, and occasional groups of stone cells and bast 
fibers; medullary rays from 1 to 2 cells in width; starch grains 
numerous, nearly spheroidal, from 0.002 to 0.010 mm. in diameter, 
and occurring in the parenchyma cells and medullary rays; calcium 
oxalate chiefly in monoclinic prisms from 0.010 to 0.025 mm. in 
diameter, occurring in crystal fibers and in parenchyma cells of 
the primary cortex. 

Powder. — Light grayish-brown or dark brown ; calcium oxalate in 
monoclinic prisms, frequently in crystal fibers; starch grains small 
and nearly spheroidal ; oil secretion cavities having a nearly colorless 
or light yellowish oil; cork cells strongly thickened and lignified; 
bast fibers, thick walled, slightly lignified, swelling perceptibly in 
hydrated chloral. 

In Southern Prickly Ash occur groups of large, more or less lig- 
nified sclerenchymatous cells, and the lignified cork cells are more 
numerous. 

Constituents. — Two resins, one acrid, the other crystalline and 
bitter; an acrid volatile oil; a bitter, alkaloidal principle, somewhat 
resembling berberine; a crystalline phenol compound zanthoxylin; 
ash about 12 per cent. 

Allied Plants. — The fruits both of Zanthoxylum americanum and 
Z. Clava-Herculis are found in commerce and known as Prickly Ash 
berries. They consist of 2 to 3 follicles, each of which is 5 to 6 mm. 



JABORANDI 365 

in length, brownish-green, dehiscent along the ventral suture and 
contains one or two sub-globular, somewhat flattened, black, glossy 
seeds; odor aromatic; taste pungent and bitter. Zanthoxylum 
fruits contain a volatile oil and resin. 

Pilocarpus. — Jaborandi. — The leaflets of various species of 
Pilocarpus (Fam. Rutacese), shrubs indigenous to Brazil. There are 
three principal commercial varieties: (1) Pernambuco Jaborandi, 
obtained from P. Jaborandi; (2) Paraguay Jaborandi, yielded by P. 
pinnatifolius, and (3) Maranham Jaborandi, obtained from P. 
microphyllus. The name, jaborandi, is applied to a number of other 
plants growing in Brazil besides those of the genus Pilocarpus. 

Pernambuco Jaborandi. — Elliptical, lanceolate or oblong-lance- 
olate, 6 to 12 cm. in length, 1.5 to 4 cm. in breadth; summit obtuse, 
more or less emarginate; base rounded or acute, unequal; margin 
entire, slightly revolute; upper surface dark green or brownish- 
green, glabrous, midrib more or less depressed near the summit, 
veins of the first order prominent, diverging at an angle of 35° to 50° 
and uniting with each other near the margin; under surface yellowish- 
or greenish-brown, pubescent, with numerous light-brown projec- 
tions, midrib prominent, yellowish-brown; petiolule 3 to 5 mm. in 
length; glandular-punctate; texture coriaceous, brittle; odor slight; 
taste bitter, somewhat aromatic, becoming pungent. 

Paraguay Jaborandi. — Oblong-lanceolate, ovate or obovate, 
8 to 12 cm. in length, 2.5 to 5 cm. in breadth; summit slightly 
emarginate; base equal; margin very slightly revolute; upper sur- 
face dark green, midrib and veins of the first order not very prom- 
inent, the latter diverging at an angle of 25° to 45°; under surface 
grayish-green or light green, glabrous, with numerous papillae; mid- 
rib yellowish, with few short hairs; frequently with black disk-like 
fruits of a species of Puccinia on both surfaces; texture as in Per- 
nambuco jaborandi, but only about one-half as thick. 

Maranham Jaborandi. — Oblong-ovate, or oblanceolate, 1.5 to 4 
cm. in length, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. in breadth; summit deeply emarginate; 
base tapering into the petiolule; margin distinctly revolute; upper 
surface bright green, glabrous, sometimes shiny, midrib prominent, 
veins of the first order not very prominent, diverging at an angle of 
35° to 45°; under surf ace grayish-green ; frequently with black disk- 
like fruits of a species of Puccinia on both surfaces; petiolule about 8 
mm. in length; texture as in Paraguay jaborandi, but thinner. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 160.) Epidermal cells with a yellowish 
layer of cutin, from 0.005 to 0.010 mm. in thickness, palisade cells, 1 
to 3 rows deep, among which occur large, nearly circular, oil secretion 



366 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



reservoirs from 0.080 to 0.150 mm. in diameter; the cells of the loose 
mesophyll occasionally with rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate 
from 0.010 to 0.025 mm. in diameter: collateral fibrovascular bundles 




Fig. 160. — Pilocarpus pinnatifolius: A, transverse section of lamina showing 
upper epidermis (E), oil cavities (Se), palisade cells (P), some of which con- 
tain rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate, loose parenchyma (m), some of 
the cells of which contain calcium oxalate (o), and lower epidermis with a 
stoma (Sp). B, surface view of epidermis showing basal portion of a non- 
glandular hair (h). The basal remains of the hairs are often present, the 
upper portions being detached. C, view of the under surface of the lamina 
showing stomata (sp). D, diagram showing the arrangements of the tissues 
in one of the secondary veins: P, palisade cells; m, loose parenchyma; Sc, 
sclerenchyma; s, sieve; g, tracheae. E, transverse section of the primary or 
middle vein showing palisade cells (P), elongated parenchyma (p), oil glands 
sieve (s), tracheae (g), which surrounds parenchyma (m), thus distinguishing 
it from the secondary vein. F, surface view of upper epidermis of lamina. — 
After Meyer. 



each surrounded by a more or less interrupted circle of several rows 
of thick-walled, slightly lignified sclerenchymatous fibers; tracheae 
associated with strongly lignified wood fibers; among the cells of the 



JABORANDI 



367 



lower epidermis occur numerous stomata. On surface view the 
stomata are broadly elliptical, 0.025 to 0.040 mm. in length, being 
uniformly smaller in Maranham Jaboiandi. Upon both surfaces of 
Pernambuco Jaborandi occur a number of non-glandular, 1-celled 
hairs, which are more or less curved, from 0.080 to 0.500 mm. in 
length, thick-walled and with numerous, slight, centrifugal projec- 
tions. 




Fig. 161. — Powder of Pilocarpus. U, fragments of upper epidermis; L, frag- 
ment of lower epidermis with a stoma; Cy, non-glandular hairs; Ca, rosette 
aggregates .010 to .027 mm. in diameter; Bf, bast fibers; Wf, wood fibers; 
T, tracheae with close annular thickenings and simple and bordered pores; 
Pi, parenchyma cells containing oil globules; 0, oil globules; P, parenchyma 
cells. — Drawing by Haase. 



Powder. — (Fig. 161.) Dark-green or greenish-brown, epidermal 
cells on surface view 5- to 6-sided, stomata broadly elliptical, from 
0.020 to 0.040 mm. in length, usually with four neighboring cells; 
fragments of fibrovascular bundles showing tracheae with simple or 
bordered pores or spiral thickenings, associated with thick-walled 
and strongly lignified wood fibers ; sclerenchymatous fibers few, walls 
thick and only slightly lignified; calcium oxalate in rosette aggre- 



368 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

gates, 0.010 to 0.025 mm. in diameter; fragments of lamina? showing 
large oil secretion cavities and usually containing one or more glob- 
ules of an oily substance; mesophyll cells frequently with reddish- 
brown tannin masses, turning green with ammonio-ferric sulphate 
solution; non-glandular hairs 1-celled, thick-walled, with numerous 
slight centrifugal projections, 0.4 to 0.6 mm. in length in P. Jabor- 
andi and 0.040 to 0.060 mm. in length in P. pinnatifolius and P. 
microphyllus. In P. microphyllus the stomata are smaller than in 
the other two species. 

Constituents. — About 0.5 to 1 per cent of the alkaloid pilocarpine, 
which occurs as a colorless, syrupy liquid, but forms well-defined 
crystalline salts, the hydrochloride and nitrate being official. It is 
very soluble in water, the solutions being dextrorotatory. Pilo- 
carpine is decomposed by heat or alkalies and yields an isomeric 
substance, isopilocarpine, which is an oily compound and is usually 
present in the commercial nitrate of pilocarpine. The alkaloid pilo- 
carpidine has been obtained from the mother liquors, after the crys- 
tallization of pilocarpine, as a syrupy substance forming a crystalline 
nitrate and resembling somewhat pilocarpine in its physiological 
action. An alkaloid related to pilocarpine has been isolated from the 
leaves of P. pinnatifolius in the form of an amorphous substance 
called jaborine, and resembling atropine in its physiological proper- 
ties. Recent investigations do not seem to show that these alkaloids 
occur in either the leaves of Paraguay or Maranham Jaborandi. 
Fresh pilocarpus leaves also yield 0.2 to 1.1 per cent of a volatile 
oil which contains a hydrocarbon pilocarpene and a stearoptene 
belonging to the olefine series. 

Allied Drugs. Nearly all of the species of Pilocarpus contain 
some pilocarpine, as well as other principles which are found in the 
true leaves. Many of these find their way into commerce and in 
some instances their assays compare favorably with the official 
leaves. Aracati Jaborandi is obtained from P. spicatus, the leaflets 
being broad and coriaceous and said to contain 0.16 per cent of alka- 
loids. The leaflets of P. racemosus of the West Indies are large and 
membranous and contain about .66 per cent of pilocarpine. 

Buchu. — The leaves of several speciec of Barosma (Fam. Ruta- 
ceae), a shrub indigenous to Cape Colony. There are two chief 
commercial varieties: (1) Short Buchu, obtained from B. betulina 
and (2) Long Buchu, obtained from B. serratifolia (Fig. 162). The 
two drugs differ considerably in their constituents. 

Short Buchu. — Obovate, rhomboid-obovate, ovate or elliptical or 
somewhat cuneate; 9 to 18 mm. in length, 6 to 12 mm. in breadth; 



BUCHU 



369 



summit obtuse, somewhat recurved; base acute or cuneate; margin 
sharply dentate or denticulate and with an oil-secretion cavities at 
the base of each tooth; upper surface yellowish-green, glabrous; 
under surface yellowish-green, longitudinally striate; both surfaces 
papillose; petiole about 1 mm. in length; texture coriaceous; odor 
and taste distinct, aromatic. 

Long Buchu. — Linear-lanceolate, 25 to 40 mm. in length, 4 to 6 
mm. in breadth; margin sharply serrate and glandular; summit 
somewhat rounded or truncate. Stems in both Short and Long 
Buchu about 1 mm. in diameter, yellowish-green or brownish-red, 




Fig. 162. — Buchu leaves showing oil cavities which give the leaves a glandular- 
punctate appearance: 1, Barosma crenata ovalis; 2, B. crenulata latifolia; 
3, B. betulina; 4, B. serratifolia; 5, Empleurum ensatum; 6, dehiscent fruit 
of B. crenulata; 7, flower of the same. — After Tschirch. 



cylindrical, longitudinally furrowed, with prominent leaf -scars 
nearly opposite to each other and giving the stems a jointed char- 
acter. 

Inner Structure.— See Fig. 163. 

Powder. — Light green; calcium oxalate in rosette aggregates, 
0.015 to 0.025 mm. in diameter; epidermal cells with irregular 
masses or sphere-crystals of hesperidin, 0.030 to 0.500 mm. in diam- 
eter, and with walls modified to mucilage; oil globules numerous. 

Constituents. — Short buchu contains about 1.2 to 1.45 per cent 
of a volatile oil, of which about 30 per cent is the crystalline body 
diosphenol; long buchu contains only about one-third as much vola- 
tile oil and it contains little or no diosphenol ) buchu also contains 



370 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



two crystalline glucosides, diosmin and hesperidin (see Aurantii 
Amari Cortex) ; mucilage and calcium oxalate. 

Allied Plants. — The leaves of Barosma crenulata are occasionally 
found in the market; they are ovate, obovate or oblong-lanceolate, 
about twice as broad as long buchu, with a slightly toothed and 
glandular margin, more or less rounded summit, and yield 1.6 per 
cent of volatile oil resembling that of short buchu. Short Buchu 
has been substituted by the leaves of Barosma pulchellum. 

Adulterants. — The leaves of Empleurum ensatum (Fam. Ruta- 
cese) have been offered for long buchu (see Fig. 162). They have a 
bitter taste and yield about 1 per cent of a volatile oil which does 




Fig. 163. — Transverse section through the leaf of Barosma serratifolia Willd; 
e, epidermal cells of upper surface, the inner walls of which are mucilaginous. 
The mucilage (m) frequently includes dendritic excretions of hesperidin in 
the form of feather-like aggregates, which dissolve in solutions of potassium 
hydroxide, giving a yellow color; p, palisade cells, some of which contain 
rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate; c, chloronchyma, some of cells contain- 
ing rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate, also a large vascular bundle 
(mestome strand) with a stereomatic pericycle forming an arch on the 
dorsal face; d, epidermis of lower (or dorsal) face of the leaf. — After Sol- 
ereder. 



not contain a crystalline principle. Long Buchu has also been sub- 
stituted by the leaves of Empleurum serratulatum. 

The trifoliate leaves of Psoralea obliqua are obtained from a 
South African shrub. The leaflets are oblique or unequal-sided, 
dentate, bitter, glandular and have numerous simple hairs. 

Karoo Buchu is deiived from Diosma succulenta, of South Africa. 
The leaves are ovate, 3 to 6 mm. in length, coriaceous, obtuse and 
slightly recurved at the summit. They yield an oil with a pepper- 
mint-like odor containing diosphenol, and 26 per cent of extractive. 
The leaves of aniseed buchu (B. pulchella) are smaller than those of 
B. betulina and have an odor of citronella. 



ORANGE 



371 



Literature. — Cultivation of Buchu Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1918, 90, 
p. 600; Chem. and Drug, 1918, 90, p. 31. 

Aurantii Dulcis Cortex. — Sweet Orange Peel. — The outer 
layer of the rind of the fresh fruit of Citrus Aurantium sinensis (Fam. 
Rutacese), a tree quite extensively cultivated in sub-tropical coun- 
tries and warm-temperate regions (Fig. 164). The outer yellowish 
layer is the part employed, and is usually removed from the fruit by 
grating. The dried rind is an article of commerce. 

Description. — The outer, orange-yellow layer recently separated 
by grating or paring and consisting of epidermal cells, thick-walled 




Fig. 164. — Citrus Aurantium, showing axillary cluster of flowers. — After Berg and 

Schmidt. 



parenchyma cells of the sarcocarp, with chromo-plastids, schizo- 
lysigenous oil cavities and globules of volatile oil; odor highly frag- 
rant; taste pungent ly aromatic. 

Powder. — Light brown; calcium oxalate in monoclinic prisms 
0.020 to 0.335 mm. in diameter; walls of parenchymatous cells about 
0.004 mm. in thickness; numerous globules of volatile oil and frag- 
ments showing schizo-lysigenous oil cavities. 

Constituents. — Resembling those of bitter orange peel, except 
that there is but a very small quantity of the bitter principle. The 
volatile oil which exists in large cavities beneath the epidermis is 
obtained by expression from the fresh peel and is official. It con- 
sists of about 90 per cent of d-limonene and 5 per cent of citral, 
citronellal and the methyl ester of anthranylic acid. 



372 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Aurantii Amari Cortex. — Bitter Orange Peel. — The rind 
of the unripe fruit of Citrus Aurantium amara (Fam. Rutaceae), a 
tree (Fig. 164) indigenous to northern India and cultivated in the 
Mediterranean region, the West Indies and the States bordering 
on the Gulf of Mexico. The fruit is collected before it is ripe, the 
rind removed and used either in the fresh or dried condition. The 
commercial article is obtained from Malta, Sicily and Spain. 

Description. — Usually cut longitudinally into quarters; ellip- 
tical, acute at both ends, 4 to 6 cm. in length, 2 to 3 cm. in width, 2 
to 6 mm. in thickness; externally yellowish or brownish-green, with 
numerous circular depressions, a scar at one end and occasionally 
the remains of the calyx; internally light yellowish-brown, wrinkled, 
with numerous conical projections and numerous large schizo-lysig- 
enous oil cavities; fracture short, tough, surface porous; odor 
aromatic; taste aromatic and bitter. 

Occasionally in ribbon-like bands 2 to 12 cm. in length, 5 to 10 
mm. in width, about 2 mm. in thickness; externally yellowish-brown. 

Powder. — Dark yellow or light brown; parenchymatous cells 
either somewhat collenchymatous or with simple pores, walls 0.010 
to 0.015 mm. in thickness; calcium oxalate in monoclinic prisms, 
0.015 to 0.035 mm. in diameter; tracheae few, spiral, annular or 
with simple pores, fragments showing large schizo-lysigenous oil 
cavities. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil, resembling that of sweet orange peel 
but with a superior flavor and a bitter taste; several bitter principles: 
(a) aurantiamarin (1.5 to 2.5 per cent), an amorphous, bitter glu- 
coside, to which the bitter taste is chiefly due; (b) aurantiamaric 
acid (0.1 per cent), a very bitter, green, amorphous, resinous prin- 
ciple; (c) naringin (aurantin), a yellowish, crystalline, bitter gluco- 
side; (d) isohesperidin (0.4 to 3 per cent), a slightly bitter glucoside. 
The drug also contains 5 to 8 per cent of a white, crystalline, taste- 
less glucoside, hesperidin, which separates in sphere-crystals on 
placing the fresh fruit in alcohol. Hesperidin is colored reddish- 
brown with solutions of ferric chloride and on hydrolysis yields a 
sweet principle hesperetin, which crystallizes in prisms. A fixed oil, 
resin, and a principle resembling tannin; calcium oxalate, in the 
form of rhombohedral crystals; and ash about 5 per cent are also 
present. 

Allied Drugs. — The immature fruits of Citrus Aurantium are 
sometimes collected and are known as orange berries. They are 
nearly globular; 5 to 20 mm. in diameter, greenish or brownish- 
black, granular rugose; the internal structure resembles that of 



LEMON 373 

orange fruits, but the seeds are rudimentary; and the taste is aro- 
matic and bitter. 

Limonis Cortex. — Lemon Peel. — The rind of the fresh fruit 
of Citrus medica Limonum (Fam. Rutacese), a tree indigenous to 
northern India and cultivated in the European countries bordering 
the Mediterranean, the West Indies and other tropical and sub- 
tropical countries. The outer yellowish layer is the part used and 
it is removed by grating. 

Description. — The outer, lemon-yellow or dark yellow layer 
recently separated by grating or paring and consisting of an epi- 
dermal layer, numerous parenchyma cells containing yellow chromo- 
plastids and large schizo-lysigenous oil cavities with globules of the 
volatile oil; odor highly fragrant, distinct; taste pungently aromatic. 

Inner Structure. — An epidermal layer composed of small tabular 
cells, a hypodermal layer containing numerous plastids, a mesocarp 
with colorless, thin-walled parenchyma and large, ellipsoidal schizo- 
lysigenous oil cavities; parenchyma cells containing a layer of gran- 
ular protoplasm adhering to the walls and occasionally membrane 
crystals of calcium oxalate, which are irregularly polygonal in shape, 
polarize light strongly and from 0.015 to 0.025 mm. in diameter. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil; a very small quantity of hesperidin 
and other bitter principles (see bitter orange peel) ; a principle resem- 
bling tannin; calcium oxalate; ash about 4 per cent. The volatile 
oil obtained by expression from fresh lemon peel consists of 90 per 
cent d-limonene; 7 to 10 per cent of citral, which is the most impor- 
ant constituent; and a small quantity of citronellal, geranyl acetate, 
terpineol, methyl heptenone, a sesquiterpene and octyl and nonyl 
aldehydes. 

Limonis Succus, or lemon juice, consists of 5.39 to 8.30 per cent of 
citric acid, in part free and also combined as an ester; saccharose, 
0.52 per cent; invert sugar, 1.42 per cent; extract, 10.44 per cent; 
nitrogenous substances, 0.32 per cent; and ash, 0.2 per cent, the 
latter consisting chiefly of potassium and calcium phosphates. 

Casimiroa Edulis. — The seeds of Casimiroa edulis (Fam. 
Rutacese), a tree widely distributed throughout Mexico and Central 
America. The fruit and seed of this tree are recognized by the 
Pharmacopoeia of Mexico under the title of Zapote bianco. The 
fruit is edible, although stated to induce sleep, whereas the kernels of 
the seed have been regarded as deleterious or even fatal in their effects. 
A chemical examination of the seeds showed them to contain a num- 
ber of interesting compounds; two new, crystalline alkaloids, one of 
the latter having been designated as casimiroine, and the other casi- 



374 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

miroedine ; an essential oil ; an enzyme which hydrolyzed amygdalin, 
and a quantity of sugar; benzoic acid; sitosterol; a phytosterol 
glucoside; a mixture of fatty acids; a yellow, phenolic substance; 
and a new lactone, casimirolid, which yields a new hydroxyl-acid, 
designated as casimiroic acid. The reputed hypnotic or toxic prop- 
erties of the seed could not be confirmed. — Power, Jour. Chem. Soc, 
1911, p. 1993. 

Angustura. — Cortex Angostura Versus, Cusparle Cortex. 
Angostura Bark or Cusparia Bark. — The bark of Galipea offi- 
cinalis (Fam. Rutaceae) , a small tree growing abundantly in the moun- 
tainous districts of Venezuela. It was formerly used in the prepara- 
tion of Angostura Bitters, which also contained gentian and a number 
of aromatic substances, as ginger, cinnamon, cardamom, orange or 
lemon peel, and caraway or cloves. 

Description. — Mostly in quills or in transversely curved pieces, 
from 5 to 12 cm. in length, 2 to 3 cm. in width, and from 2 to 3 mm. 
in thickness ; externally light yellowish- or grayish-brown, with occa- 
sional patches of a velvety porous cork; inner surface light brown 
and finely striate; fracture short, smooth and resinous; transverse 
surface of middle bark brownish-red, inner bark brownish-yellow 
with numerous shining resin canals and groups of bast fibers; odor 
distinct; taste bitter. 

Inner Structure. — Cork cells more or less tabular, compressed 
and somewhat thickened on the tangential walls; phelloderm cells, 
thin- walled and of several layers; middle bark of thin-walled, 
starch-bearing parenchyma, yellowish secretion cavities, from 
0.060 to 0.130 mm. in diameter and cells containing small, fine acicular 
crystals of calcium oxalate; stone cells occur in the inner layers of the 
middle bark; inner bark having numerous characteristic plates of 
bast fibers, the latter being spindle-shaped, somewhat knotty and 
with tapering and branching ends; leptome of collapsed sieve tubes 
showing the porous plates on the longitudinal walls; medullary rays 
from 1 to 3 cells in width and from 10 to 20 longitudinal rows in height; 
secretion cavities possess cellulose walls and contain a yellowish oily 
secretion and are distributed throughout the inner and middle 
bark; calcium oxalate in crystal fibers accompanying the bast fibers, 
the crystals being in the form of rhombohedra; starch grains very 
small, irregularly spheroidal and occurring in the parenchyma and 
medullary ray cells. 

Constituents. — About 2.4 per cent of alkaloids; (1) cusparine 
(angustarine) which crystallizes in bitter needles and small tetra- 
hedrons and forms white salts which are sparingly soluble in water; 



ANGUSTURA 375 

(2) galipine, which crystallizes in white needles and forms yellow 
crystalline salts; (3) cusparidine, and (4) galipidine yield bitter salts, 
the former being white and the latter pale yellow; and (5) cuspareine, 
which crystallizes in white needles. It also contains from 1.5 to 1.9 
per cent of a volatile oil ; a bitter principle angosturin which forms a 
white microcrystalline powder; and a glucoside. 

Allied Plants. — The drug has been adulterated with and substi- 
tuted by the barks of a number of other plants, among which the 
following may be mentioned: Cusparia febrifuga, a tree growing in 
Venezuela, Brazil and Colombia. The bark resembles the true 
Angostura bark, but possesses a yellowish-white cork, the walls of 
which are not thickened; secretion cavities and raphides of calcium 
oxalate are both wanting; the bast fibers occur in regular tangen- 
tially arranged groups and the walls are nearly straight; stone cells 
are very few and quite small; the bark yields only a small quantity 
of alkaloids. 

Brazilian Angostura is the bark of Esenbeckia febrifuga, a tree 
growing in the forests of Brazil. It is externally of a silver-gray or 
grayish-brown color, and marked by numerous lenticular lenticels 
and dark patches of lichens; internally the color is brownish and 
marked by distinct transverse light and dark areas. It contains 
numerous groups of stone cells and tannin secretion cells; calcium 
oxalate in the form of prisms are abundant; the oil-canals are very 
large and distributed throughout the parenchyma of primary and 
secondary cortex. Esenbeckia contains 0.1 per cent of volatile oil 
and a number of alkaloids. 

The bark of Strychnos Nux vomica has been substituted and has 
produced serious consequences, causing the use of Angostura to be 
prohibited at one time in some countries. It is distinguished by a 
distinct line of stone cells separating the inner bark from the middle 
cortical layer. 

SIMARUBACEjE, OR QUASSIA FAMILY 

Chiefly tropical or sub-tropical trees and shrubs, with alternate 
and pinnately compound leaves, regular flowers and drupaceous 
or samara-like fruits. In the pericycle occur isolated groups of bast 
fibers and in some cases it is made up of a composite and continuous 
ring of sclerenchyma. The tracheae usually have simple perforations 
and the wood fibers either possess slit-like, simple pores or are free 
from any perforations. The tracheae when adjoining parenchyma 
cells have bordered pores on the dividing wall. Resin canals occur 



376 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

only in the peripheral region of the pith and are seldom found in the 
cortex. The hairs are usually both unicellular, non-glandular and 
multicellular, glandular. Calcium oxalate is usually secreted in the 
form of rosette aggregates or solitary crystals; in some instances 
styloids occur. 

Quassia. — Quassia Wood. — The wood of Picrasma excelsa 
(Fam. Simarubaceae), a tree indigenous to Jamaica and other islands 
of the West Indies. The trees are felled and cut into billets. The 
latter are exported and afterward manufactured into " quassia cups," 
the shavings constituting the drug known as Jamaica Quassia. 
The market supply of this drug was at one time almost exclusively 
obtained from Quassia amara (Fam. Simarubaceae), a small tree or 
shrub indigenous to Brazil and cultivated in Colombia, Panama, West 
Indies and other tropical countries. The wood of the latter is 
exported from Surinam and is known as Surinam Quassia; this variety 
is used in continental Europe and now quite largely in the United 
States. 

Jamaica Quassia. — Usually in raspings, light or bright yellow, 
medullary rays two to five cells wide in transverse section, the cells 
containing tetragonal prisms or sphenoidal microcrystals of calcium 
oxalate; fracture fibrous; odor slight; taste bitter. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 165.) Tracheae wide, single or in groups 
of 2 to 5, having bordered pores and a yellowish content; medullary 
rays mostly 1 to 5 cells wide and from 10 to 20 rows deep; crystal 
fibers containing calcium oxalate in 4- to 6-sided prisms, from 0.006 
to 0.030 mm. in length; wood fibers with thin walls and oblique 
pores; starch grains few, spheroidal or ellipsoidal, 0.010 to 0.015 mm. 
in diameter. 

Surinam Quassia usually occurs in small billets; the medullary 
rays are 1 to 2 cells wide in transverse section, and calcium oxalate 
crystals are wanting. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 165.) Tracheae usually single or in pairs, 
sometimes in groups of 3 or 4; medullary rays from 1 to 4 cells wide 
and from 10 to 30 rows deep; calcium oxalate crystals few or entirely 
wanting and distinguishing this variety from Jamaica Quassia. 

Powder. — Light yellow; tracheae wide with bordered pores; 
sclerenchymatous fibers long, thin-walled and with oblique simple 
pores; medullary rays with calcium oxalate in monoclinic prisms 
or in sphenoidal microcrystals, or with few spheroidal starch grains. 
When bark of the wood is present a few stone cells and cork cells are 
also present. In the bark of Surinam quassia stone cells are numerous. 

Constituents. — Jamaica quassia contains from 0.05 to 0.75 per 



QUASSIA 



377 



cent of a bitter crystalline substance, quassiin. This really consists 
of two crystalline bitter principles — a-picrasmin and /3-picrasmin. 
Jamaica Quassia also contains a crystalline aLkaloidal principle 
which gives a blue fluorescence in acidified alcoholic solution. 

Surinam quassia contains one or more bitter principles, which 
are related to the picrasmins of Jamaica quassia, and which are 
known as quassiins. 

Allied Drugs. — The barks of Picrasma excelsa and Quassia amara 
are used in medicine and probably contain similar principles to the 





Fig. 165. — A, transverse section of Jamaica quassia. B, transverse section of 
Surinam quassia; g, tracheae; /, wood fibers; hp, wood parenchyma; o, 
cells containing calcium oxalate; n, medullary rays. — After Meyer. 



wood. The Surinam bark occurs in thinner, light-colored pieces and 
is sometimes admixed with the powdered drug. It is determined 
by the large stone cells. The wood of Picrsena quassioides quite 
closely resembles Jamaica Quassia in general appearance, micro- 
scopical structure and chemical constituents. Bitter principles are 
also found in other species of Picrasma and Quassia. An allied bitter 



378 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

principle and an alkaloid are found in Cascara Amarga or Honduras 
Bark, which is derived from Picrsena Vellozii, of southern Brazil. 

Simaruba. — Cortex Simarubae, Simaruba Bark. — The bark of 
the root of Simaruba officinalis and S. amara (Fam. Simarubacese), 
stately trees, the former indigenous to northern Brazil, French Guiana 
and Guatemala, and furnishing the bark known commercially as 
Orinoco Simaruba; the latter growing in Panama, Guatemala, the 
Bahama Islands and in Florida, and yielding the bark known as 
Jamaica Simaruba. The root bark is collected and deprived of the 
periderm. Most of the commercial supplies come from Ciudad 
Bolivar (Angostura) on the Orinoco River, Venezuela. 

Orinoco Simaruba. (Fig. 166.) — In flattened or somewhat trans- 
versely curved pieces, from 0.3 to 1 M. in length, 4 to 12 cm. in 
width, and from 2 to 5 mm. in thickness; externally grayish- or 
yellowish-brown, somewhat velvety to the touch, irregularly wrinkled, 
marked with a few, irregular, brownish scars and with occasional 
patches of the shining silvery periderm; inner surface yellowish- 
brown, longitudinally striate; fracture short fibrous, porous and 
with yellowish stone cells; inodorous; taste very bitter and slightly 
aromatic. 

Inner Structure. — Middle bark consisting of tangentially 
elongated parenchyma, having thin walls and containing small, 
nearly colorless or yellowish-brown granules, and interspersed among 
which are the light yellowish resin secretion cavities, and numerous 
more or less irregular, very thick-walled, light-yellowish stone cells 
either single or in small groups, usually surrounded by crystal fibers, 
the crystals being nearly cubical and from 0.010 to 0.025 mm. in 
diameter; inner bark with irregular groups of bast fibers consisting 
of thin, bright yellow, somewhat lignified walls, separated by narrow 
strands of more or less obliterated leptome and parenchyma; med- 
ullary rays in somewhat wavy rows from 1 to 20 cells in width and 
having usually slightly thickened porous walls. In the broad wavy 
wedges of phloem are distributed large stone cells, the walls resembling 
those found in the middle bark but being comparatively thinner, 
and are arranged in spindle-shaped longitudinal rows, and like the 
bast fibers are usually surrounded with crystal fibers. The drug 
is apparently free from starch. 

Jamaica Simaruba. — In flattened pieces about 50 cm. or more 
in length and about 10 cm. in width; flexible, very fibrous and bitter. 
The inner structure closely resembles the Orinoco bark. 

Constituents. — A volatile oil having an odor resembling benzoin; 
a non-volatile oil; a crystalline bitter principle, giving a violet 



SIMARUBA 



379 



color with sulphuric acid; a crystalline non-bitter substance; a 
fluorescent principle; a resin; gallic acid, and calcium oxalate and 
malate. 

Allied Plants. — In 1904 the bark of the stems and branches 
of a tree growing in Ciudad Bolivar was found in commerce under 
the name of Maracaibo Simaruba. The pieces consisted chiefly of 
the inner bark, varying from 0.7 to 0.9 cm. in thickness; externally 
they were mottled, showing groups of yellowish stone cells in among 
the parenchyma; the inner surface was brownish-yellow, smooth, 
and with shallow furrows; the fracture being short, granular. The 
bark appears to be derived from Simaruba officinalis (Fig. 166). 




O 9» - y 

Fig. 166. — Maracaibo Simaruba Bark probably derived from the stems of Sim- 
aruba officinalis: A, transverse section showing medullary rays (m); and 
stone cells (st) in the outer bark. B, tangential-longitudinal section showing 
medullary ray cells (m) ; sieve tubes (s) ; and bast fibers (/). C, starch grains 
mostly single, spheroidal, somewhat pyriform and about 0.020 mm. in diam- 
eter. D, transverse section of the outer bark showing the large group of 
stone cells (st); irregular bast fibers (/); and medullary ray cells (m). — After 
Rosenthaler and Stadler, Ber. d. d. Pharm. Ges., 1907, p. 137. 



Literature. — Zornig, Bot. Abstracts, 1918, 1, p. 30. 

Brucea Sumatrana and B. Antidysenterica (Fam. Simaru- 
bacese). — The fruits of Brucea Sumatrana, popularly known as 
K6-sam Seeds, were obtained from the East Indies, where they are 
reputed to be a valuable remedy in the treatment of tropical dysen- 
tery. The fruits and other parts of the plant of Brucea antidysen- 
terica are similarly employed in Abyssinia. Both the fruit and the 
bark of these two species of Brucea contain, amongst other con- 
stituents, several amorphous bitter principles. Certain statements 
by previous investigators, regarding the character of the active prin- 



380 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



ciples, are probably erroneous. — Power, Pharm. Jour., 1903, p. 183; 
1907, p. 126. 

BURSERACE^:, OR MYRRH FAMILY 

Mostly tropical shrubs and trees, having alternate compound 
leaves, and small flowers formed in racemes. The plants are espe- 
cially distinguished by their internal secretory system. Schizo- 
lysigenous balsam canals or gum-resinous canals (Fig. 167) occur 




Fig. 167. — Transverse section of the bark of one of the Burseraceae, probably 
Commiphora Myrrha : P, bark made up of sclerotic cells (st) and cork (d) ; 
o, more or less spheroidal secretion canals, one of which (O) shows the irregular 
spreading of the gum-resin; m, medullary rays; b, bast fibers; k, crystals 
of calcium oxalate; p, parenchyma. — After Vogl. 



within the sclerenchymatous pericycle, also in the secondary cortex 
and medullary rays and occasionally in the primary cortex and pith. 
The epidermal layer in the leaves is usually modified to mucilage. 
The pericycle is a composite and continuous ring of sclerenchyma. 
The tracheae as a rule have simple perforations, which are very large 
in the walls adjoining the parenchyma cells. Wood fibers also have 
simple pores, being occasionally septate. The medullary rays are, 



MYRRH 381 

narrow. Calcium oxalate is secreted in the form of rosette aggre- 
gates or solitary crystals (Fig. 167). Glandular and non-glandular 
hairs are of a number of specific forms. 

"Myrkha. — Myrrh. — The dried gum-resin from the stem of 
Commiphora abyssinica and C. Schimperi (Fam. Burseracese), 
rather large shrubs indigenous to northeastern Africa (chiefly Somali 
Land) and southern Arabia. The gum-resin exudes naturally or 
from incisions made in the bark; it is first of a yellowish color, but 
soon hardens, becoming darker, and is then collected. There are 
two principal commercial varieties of Myrrh, the one known as 
African or Somali Myrrh, and the other as Arabian or Yemen Myrrh, 
the former being considered the better of the two. 

Description. — In irregular, agglutinated tears or masses varying 
in size; externally rough and uneven, yellowish- or reddish-brown, 
covered with a yellowish powder; brittle, the fractured surface waxy, 
grandular, oily, slightly mottled, somewhat translucent in thin pieces; 
odor balsamic; taste aromatic, bitter and acrid. 

Myrrh forms a brownish-yellow emulsion when triturated with 
water (distinction from other gum-resins); an ethereal solution 
treated with bromin vapor becomes reddish (distinction from East 
Indian myrrh) ; when moistened with nitric acid it becomes purplish 
(distinction from false myrrh or bdellium); not more than 65 per 
cent is insoluble in alcohol. 

Inner Structure of the Bark.— (Fig. 167.) 

Powder. — In glycerin mounts the powder shows yellowish or 
yellowish-brown irregular fragments made up of a grayish matrix, 
containing yellowish or yellowish-brown oil globules, a few frag- 
ments of lignified tissues consisting of either sclerenchymatous 
fibers, or of small groups of stone cells, the individual cells of the 
latter having very thick, porous walls and being from 0.015 to 
0.050 mm. in length; occasional starch grains from 0.010 to 0.035 
mm. in diameter and varying from spheroidal to somewhat pear- 
shaped grains. 

Constituents. — A yellowish or yellowish-green, rather thick 
volatile oil, 2.5 to 8 per cent, having the characteristic odor of myrrh; 
resin, 25 to 40 per cent, composed of several constituents, one of 
which yields protocatechuic acid and pyrocatechin; gum, about 
60 per cent, consisting of soluble and insoluble portions, which 
forms a mucilage that does not readily ferment; a bitter principle, 
sparingly soluble in water but soluble in alcohol ; ash, 5 to 10 per cent. 

The volatile oil of myrrh consists of cuminol (about 1 per cent), 
eugenol, meta-cresol, pinene, limonene, dipentene and two sesqui- 



382 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

terpenes. The acidity of old oil is due to free acetic, myrrholic and 
commiphorinic acids. 

Adulterants. — Myrrh is frequently admixed with gums and other 
gum-resins, including several kinds of Bdellium, which are obtained 
from various species of Commiphora, and which are characterized 
by not giving a purplish color with nitric acid. Of these the follow- 
ing may be mentioned: African bdellium, which occurs in yellowish- 
brown masses, that are reddish in transmitted light and have a 
pepper-like odor and bitter taste; Indian bdellium, occurring in 
irregular, reddish-brown masses, covered with minute spicules of 
resin, and having a terebinthinate odor and an acrid taste; and 
opaque bdellium, which occurs in yellowish, hard, opaque masses, 
with a faint odor and bitter taste, and the alcoholic solution of which 
is colored black with solutions of ferric chloride. Thin pieces of a 
bark are frequently present in opaque bdellium. 

Bisabol, or East Indian myrrh, is exported from eastern Africa 
and Asia; it closely resembles true myrrh, but is distinguished from 
it by the ethereal solution not becoming reddish with bromin vapor. 
Furthermore, on mixing 6 drops of a petroleum ether solution (one 
part of myrrh to 15 of ether) with 3 c.c. of glacial acetic acid and then 
adding this liquid carefully to 3 c.c. of concentrated sulphuric acid, 
a rose-colored zone is at first developed, and finally the entire acetic 
acid solution assumes the same color. With genuine myrrh the solu- 
tion is colored a very pale rose color. 

Allied Plants. — Opopanax is a balsam-like product obtained from 
Commiphora Kataf, a plant indigenous to Arabia, and is supposed 
to be the Myrrh mentioned in the Bible. It yields from 6 to 10 per 
cent of a greenish-yellow volatile oil with a pleasant balsamic odor; 
and also contains opo-resinotannol (a compound not yielding umbelli- 
feron on distillation) both free and combined with ferulaic acid; free 
ferulaic acid; vanillin, and a gum containing bassorin. 

Mulu Kilavary is a gummy exudation obtained from Commiphora 
Berryi, a plant growing in India. • It occurs in yellowish-brown or 
dark-brown translucent fragments, having a conchoidal, oily frac- 
ture, and consists chiefly of gum, with a small quantity of a tasteless 
resin and a volatile oil. 

MELIACEJE, OR MAHOGANY FAMILY 

A family of tropical and sub-tropical trees and shrubs, having 
mostly alternate and compound leaves and axillary clusters or 
racemes of flowers. The family is especially known for its yielding 



COCILLANA 383 

the mahogany wood, which is considered one of the most durable 
and valuable of cabinet woods. The true mahogany is obtained from 
Swietenia Mahogoni, a native of tropical America and formerly very 
abundant in Jamaica; now, however, probably all of the mahogany 
wood comes from Central America. It is cultivated to some extent 
in Florida and California as an ornamental tree. Other genera of 
this same family yield a wood which is substituted and sold for ma- 
hogany. There are quite a number of timbers, which are obtained 
from plants entirely unrelated to the Meliacese, that are also sold in 
commerce as mahogany. 

In the Meliacese the tracheae always have simple perforations, 
except when adjoining parenchyma cells, they possess bordered 
pores. The wood fibers have large lumina and are usually marked 
by simple perforations and occasionally have septate transverse 
walls. One of the marked characteristics of these plants is the 
presence of secretory cells in the pith, cortex and leaves; in the 
latter they give rise to transparent dots, which are readily apparemN 
on holding the leaves to the light. 

The epidermal cells are usually modified to mucilage. Bast 
fibers and stone cells occur in isolated groups in the pericycle, occa- 
sionally there being a ring of stone cells also in this region. Calcium 
oxalate is secreted in the form of rosette aggregates or solitary 
crystals. Both glandular and non-glandular hairs occur in a number 
of specific forms. 

Cocillana. — The bark of Guarea Rusbyi (Fam. Meliacese), a 
tree indigenous to the eastern Andean slope in Bolivia. It is used 
by the natives as an emetic and has been introduced into medicine 
in the United States to some extent as an expectorant, it being said 
to resemble ipecac in its action on the respiratory organs. 

Description. — In flattened or somewhat transversely curved 
pieces from 5 to 12 cm. in length, 1 to 3 cm. in width, and 3 to 5 mm. 
in thickness; externally grayish-yellow or -brown with whitish 
patches of a lichen, roughly and unevenly fissured, having longitu- 
dinal furrows and occasionally transverse fissures; inner surface 
grayish-yellow, coarsely striate and often roughly fibrous from 
detached strands of bast fibers ; fracture coarsely granular in the outer 
bark, and splintery fibrous in the inner bark ; transverse surface with 
thick, light reddish-brown periderm, having numerous yellowish- 
white stone cells, inner bark tangentially, finely striate; odor slight; 
taste somewhat astringent, unpleasant and slightly nauseous. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 168.) Periderm of several layers of 
primary and frequently even secondary cortex, between which are 



384 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



included large groups of stone cells having very thick and porous 
walls; bast fibers in tangentially elongated groups separated by 
plates of parenchyma and sieve; the bast fibers attain a length of 
0.750 mm'., the walls being nearly straight and attenuated at the 
ends; crystal fibers surround the groups of bast fibers, each cell of 
the former having a monoclinic rhombohedral crystal of calcium 
oxalate; medullary rays from 1 to 3 cells wide and from 15 to 20 rows 
deep, the walls being porous and not infrequently lignified and 
occasionally having in the lumina reddish-amorphous masses which 
are insoluble in alcohol. The secretory cells are somewhat elongated 
and have a yellowish-white amorphous or granular content which is 




Fig. 168. — Cocillana. Transverse section of the inner bark: m, medullary rays; 
6, bast fibers; s, collapsed sieve; r, oleoresin secretion cells, showing an amor- 
phous content; p, parenchyma; c, crystal fibers surrounding the bast fibers, 
each containing a crystal which is not illustrated in the drawing. — After 
Schrenk. 



insoluble in alcohol and in dilute solutions of the alkalies, but soluble 
in chloroform and volatile oils; the starch grains are small, spheroidal 
and occur in the cortical parenchyma and cells of the medullary rays. 

Constituents. — An alkaloid, Rusbyine; a mixture of resins, 2.5 
per cent; a fixed oil, 2.5 per cent; a caoutchouc-like substance; and 
tannic acid. 

Literature.— Schrenk, Drug. Bulletin, 1888, p. 222. 

Azedarach. — The bark of the root of Melia Azedarach (Fam. 
Meliacese), a beautiful shade tree indigenous to Asia, and cultivated 
in Europe and the southern United States. It is known as Pride-of- 



AZEDARACH 385 

China and Pride-of-India, on account of its rare beauty; Indian 
lilac, by reason of the resemblance of its flowers to the common 
syringa; and Bead tree or Pater-noster tree in allusion to the use of 
the seeds of the fruits in making of rosaries. The drupaceous green 
fruit is very astringent. When ripe it is yellow, sweet, and on drying 
it becomes purplish-black, retaining its fleshy character for many 
years. It is said to produce an intoxicating effect upon robins and 
is sometimes sprinkled with clothing in order to prevent the devel- 
opment of moths. The dried berries are also used much as those of 
Cocculus. The bark, preferably deprived of the periderm, is used 
to some extent in medicine. 

Description. — In quills or irregularly flattened, somewhat trans- 
versely curved pieces, from 3 to 15 cm. in length, 0.5 to 3 cm. in width, 
and 2 to 7 mm. in thickness; outer surface yellowish- or reddish- 
brown; nearly smooth with irregular lighter and darker patches; 
inner surface light brown, longitudinally striate and frequently 
with detached bast fibers; fracture short-fibrous; transverse surface 
showing a porous, reddish-brown cork or periderm, inner bark 
yellowish and tangentially striate, frequently lamellated; odor 
slight; taste sweetish, bitter and somewhat acrid. 

Inner Structure. — Periderm of two or more layers of colorless, 
thin-walled, compressed cork cells, between which occur broad 
strands composed of large parenchyma cells and in among which are 
distributed the brownish tannin secretion cells forming long and 
frequently branching rows; inner bark consisting chiefly of starch- 
bearing parenchyma, leptome and 3 or 4 interrupted circles of bast 
fibers separated by broad medullary rays ; bast fibers very long, with 
irregular walls and oblique terminations, strongly lignified and 
having numerous long slit-like pores: calcium oxalate in rhombo- 
hedral crystals about 0.025 mm. in diameter and arranged to form 
crystal fibers; the latter surround the groups of bast fibers, the walls 
being thickened and strongly lignified, excepting where they adjoin 
the parenchyma cells; medullary rays from 1 to 8 cells wide, and in 
rows from 5 to 15 cells in depth; starch grains single and 2- or more 
compound, the individual grains from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. in diam- 
eter, spheroidal, ellipsoidal irregularly polygonal and often with a 
long central cleft; secretion cells with a yellowish-brown oily content, 
single or united to form chains and distributed throughout the paren- 
chyma tissues of the outer and inner bark. 

Constituents. — A yellowish-white resin which appears to possess 
the anthelmintic properties ascribed to the drug. It has a very 
bitter taste, is insoluble in water but soluble in alcohol, ether, chloro- 



386 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

form, carbon disulphide, petroleum benzin and oil of turpentine. 
It is precipitated from alcoholic solutions by the addition of water. 

Literature— Jacobs, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1879, p. 443. 

Azadirachta Indica. — Cortex Margos^e, Indian Azadirach, 
Margosa or Neen Bark. — The dried bark of Azadirachta indica 
(Fam. Meliaceae), a tree indigenous to the East Indies and rather 
widely distributed in the tropical countries of Asia and to some 
extent cultivated. It is used in India and the eastern colonies of 
Great Britain, as a simple bitter, replacing gentian and quassia. 

Description. — Usually in flat, somewhat transversely curved 
pieces, from 5 to 15 cm. in length, 1 to 3 cm. in breadth, and 5 to 10 
mm. in thickness; outer surface grayish-brown, more or less fissured 
and rough and scaly; inner surface yellowish-brown, longitudinally 
striate and fibrous; fracture short, fibrous; transverse surface 
somewhat radiate from the narrow, yellow medullary rays, crossed 
by alternating, tangentially arranged groups of brownish bast fibers, 
separated by lighter strands of leptome and parenchyma; inodorous 
taste of inner bark, bitter, while that of the outer bark is astringent. 

Inner Structure. — Outer layer consisting of a number of thin- 
walled and nearly colorless cork cells; the parenchyma of the primary 
cortex contains either a brownish amorphous content or rosette aggre- 
gates of calcium oxalate, and in among which are distributed the large, 
somewhat thick-walled and elongated secretion cells; inner bark 
with tangentially elongated groups of bast fibers surrounded by 
crystal fibers, each having a rhombohedra crystal of calcium oxalate; 
separating the groups of bast fibers are the more or less collapsed 
leptome cells which are thin-walled, possessing rather large pores; 
medullary rays from 4 to 6 cells wide, those in the outer bark pos- 
sessing a brownish amorphous content; the bast fibers are from 
0.500 to 1 mm. in length, about 0.020 mm. in width and possessing 
large lumina; the bast parenchyma consists of spheroidal or poly- 
hedral cells having a dark brown content; a small amount of starch 
is found in the parenchyma cells and medullary rays of the inner 
portion of the secondary cortex. 

Constituents. — A bitter alkaloid, margosine; a bitter amorphous 
resin; margosic acid; and tannic acid. 

Literature. — Mittlacher, Zeitschr. d. Allgem. oster. Apoth. 
Verein, 1900, p. 19. 



SENEGA 387 

POLYGALACE^, OR MILKWORT FAMILY 

A family of about 750 species, mostly herbs, except in the tropics 
where they may become shrubs and trees. The leaves are usually, 
alternate and exstipulate, the flowers are perfect and irregular, and 
the fruit is usually a capsule enclosing caruncled seeds. Among the 
histological features of this family the following may be mentioned: 
Small isolated groups of bast fibers occur in the pericycle of some of 
the species of Polygala. Only the transverse walls of the tracheae are 
marked by simple pores. The wood fibers possess bordered pores, 
and the medullary rays are very narrow. The cells of the pith are 
sometimes lignified. In the leaves there are several important char- 
acteristics: (1) sclerotic cells are occasionally found in the loose 
mesophyll and palisade layer; (2) in Polygala there is a strong ten- 
dency for the epidermal cells to become papillose, thus resembling 
the leaves of Erythroxylon ; and (3) temrinal tracheids occur in the 
veins of Polygala. Calcium oxalate is secreted in the form of solitary 
crystals or rosette aggregates. Non-glandular hairs are mostly 
unicellular, occasionally uniseriate. Glandular hairs are wanting. 
In certain species of Polygala there are spheroidal aggregates of a 
crystalline nature and Solereder suggests that they may have been 
described by Chodat as h^sigenous secretion cavities or oil cells in 
certain South American species of Polygala. 

Sexega. — Senega Root. — The dried root of Polygala Senega 
(Fam. Polygalacese), a perennial herb found in Canada and the 
eastern United States as far south as North Carolina and as far west 
as Alberta, Minnesota and Missouri. There are two representative 
commercial varieties — the northern, collected in Manitoba and in 
the State of Minnesota : the southern, from Virginia to Texas. 

Description. — Southern Senega. — Nearly entire, with broken and 
detached rootlets, crowned with numerous buds and short stem-rem- 
nants, slenderly conical, more or less tortuous, somewhat branched, 
3 to 8 cm. in length, 2 to 6 mm. in thickness; externally dark yellow, 
the crown being rose-tinted, longitudinally wrinkled, slightly annu- 
late, marked with circular scars of detached rootlets and in some 
cases by a keel, which is more prominent at the upper portion of the 
dried roots; side opposite keel more or less flattened; fracture short 
when dry, tough when damp : transverse section (Fig. 169) elliptical 
or triangular, showing a characteristic excentral development of 
lemon-yellow wood, which varies in outline from elliptical or ovate 
to irregularly fan-shaped, and is surrounded by an unevenly devel- 
oped dark yellow cortex, being thickest outside the broadest strands 



388 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



of wood, and forming the keel on drying; odor slight, penetrating; 
taste sweetish and acrid. 

Inner- Structure. — An outer layer of several rows of tangentially 
elongated, light yellowish or yellowish-brown cells; outer bark of 
slightly thickened cells, containing a colorless or pale yellowish 
amorphous substance, which is liberated in the form of large glob- 
ules upon the addition of a solution of potassium hydroxide; inner 
bark, the cells in radial rows, consisting of parenchyma, small groups 
of leptome, and medullary rays, the latter 1 to 3 cells wide all the 
cells in this zone show a collenchymatous thickening of the walls 
and contain an amorphous substance, similar to that found in cells 
of the outer bark ; woody layer of tracheae with bordered pores, wood 
fibers with oblique, simple pores, tracheids, and medullary rays, the 




Fig. 169. — Transverse sections of senega, the two on the left being of the dry 
drug, and the one on the right showing the appearance after soaking 
the material in water: R, outer bark; R' , bark on the side having abnormal 
development of wood; B, inner bark, which gives rise to the "keel " on the 
drying of the root; H, wood; C, C", cambium; m, medullary rays; m\ 
parenchyma developed in place of wood on one side. — After Meyer. 



latter being rather indistinct and resembling the wood fibers; tissues 
of the central layer of wood colored yellowish- or reddish-brown 
on the addition of a solution of potassium hydroxide. 

Powder. — Light yellowish-brown or dark yellow; odor penetrat- 
ing; slightly sternutatory; sclerenchymatous fibers thick-walled, 
non-lignified, with oblique simple pores; tracheae about 0.175 mm. in 
length, lignified, with simple and bordered pores; medullary-ray 
cells somewhat lignified, with large simple pores. Quillaja (Fig. 136) 
is distinguished from senega by having elongated monoclinic prisms 
of calcium oxalate, and numerous starch grains, lignified bast fibers 
and stone cells. 

The following test is of some practical use in arriving at a compar- 
ative value of different samples of senega. It is based upon the 
presence of methyl salicylate, which occurs in greatest amount in 



SENEGA 389 

the recently gathered drug, and that has been most carefully pre- 
pared for the market. Extract 10 gm. of powdered Senega by means 
of a Soxhlet apparatus, using 50 c.c. of ether to which 2 drops of 
hydrochloric acid have previously been added. Continue the 
extraction for four or five hours and then add sufficient ether to make 
the liquid measure 50 c.c. Take 25 c.c. of this solution and evap- 
orate it on a water-bath to dryness, the residue should not weigh 
less than 0.300 gm. and upon dissolving the residue with 10 c.c. of 
chloroform, transferring it to a test-tube and pouring 5 c.c. of sul- 
phuric acid beneath the solution, a reddish-brown color should be 
produced at the zone of contact and the sulphuric acid should show a 
slight green fluorescence, after the mixture has stood for twenty-four 
hours. If 10 c.c. of the original ethereal solution be poured into a 
beaker in which previously has been placed 10 c.c. of water and the 
mixture warmed on a water-bath until the ether has been evaporated, 
the aqueous solution, upon filtering and adding a few drops of a 
solution of ferric chloride, should become a bright pink-purple. 

Manitoba Senega is 8 to 15 cm. in length, 6 to 12 mm. in thickness, 
externally dark brown and somewhat purplish near the crown. 

Constituents. — The principal constituents are about 5 or 6 per cent 
of two glucosides: senegin, which resembles saponin, and polygalic 
acid, which is sternutatory. The root also contains 0.12 per cent of a 
volatile oil which is chiefly methyl salicylate; resin; pectin; sugar; 
and considerable proteins. 

Allied Plants. — Saponin-like substances and methyl salicylate are 
found to a greater or less extent in other species of Polygala, of which 
at least forty have been used in medicine. Other genera of the Poly- 
galacese seem to have constituents similar to Senega, as Comesperma 
of Australia and Monnina of South America. 

The roots of Polygala angulata are collected in Brazil, and are 
commonly known as White Ipecac or poaya blanca. The roots 
resemble those of Senega, but are from 7 to 20 cm. in length and 
from 1 to 9 mm. in diameter. They are nearly cylindrical, more or 
less tortuous, light brown in color, longitudinally wrinkled and 
marked by numerous transverse fissures. The crown is surmounted 
with a number of stem bases which somewhat resemble the roots. 
They probably contain saponin, and on this their emetic properties 
depend. — Kraemer, Proc. A. Ph. A., 1900, p. 214. 

Adulterants. — The rhizomes and roots of Cypripedium hirsutum 
and C. spectabile of the United States are said to be sometimes 
used as adulterants of Senega (Figs. 60 and 61). 



390 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



EUPHORBIACEjE, OR SPURGE FAMILY 

A large family of about 4000 species, which are very widely 
distributed. Outside of the fact that the flowers are subtended 
by an involucre, which resembles a calyx, and the fruit is a 3-lobed 
capsule, there are no distinctive morphological features which 
extend throughout all the members of this family. It is ordinarily 
stated that the plants possess a milky acrid juice, but this is only 
true of some of the genera. There are no less than 8 different kinds 
of secretory tissues in this family. (1) Laticiferous Cells are espe- 
cially characteristic of the Euphorbias. They occur in the pith, 
cortex and in the veins of the leaves and the contents in the living 
plants are generally milky and may contain starch grains, protein 
crystals, rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate and tannin. (2) 
Laticiferous Vessels occur in Hevea, one or more species of which 
yield caoutchouc, and in Manihot, the tuberous roots of which fur- 
nish tapioca starch. In the former the juice is of a milky character 
and in the latter in the nature of a watery sap. (3) Rows of lati- 
ciferous sacs are confined to the genus Micrandra. The cells form 
long chains and contain a sap, which, on drying, is colored gray. 
(4) Tanniferous Cells occur singly or in chains and have a brownish 
content. They are widely distributed in the Euphorbiaceae. (5) 
A secretory organ, consisting of very much Elongated Sacs having a 
brownish content, is found solely in the pith cells of Mallotus and 
some other genera. They are usually surrounded by a ring of small 
cells resembling an epithelium. (6) Idioblasts, or secretory cells 
with an oleo-resin content, are found in Ricinus, Croton, etc. The 
cells are large and contain a yellowish and strongly refractive secre- 
tion, giving rise to transparent dots in the leaves. (7) Secretory 
Lacunae, resembling the intercellular secretory receptacles, occur in 
some of the Leguminosse. (8) Mucilage Lacunae or groups of cells 
having mucilaginous walls, are found in a limited number of genera. 

The pericycle is of varied composition, being either without any 
sclerenchyma or composed of a ring of mechanical tissues or in some 
instances composed of isolated groups of bast fibers, in the latter 
case the walls are lamellated. The tracheae usually are marked by 
simple pores and scalariform perforations. In some instances, the 
latter type only being developed. The tracheal walls, adjoining 
parenchyma cells, may possess either simple or bordered pores. The 
wood fibers have either thick, somewhat mucilaginous walls and nar- 
row lumina, or thin walls and large lumina, the transverse walls being 
occasionally septate. Calcium oxalate is usually secreted in the form 



STILLINGIA 391 

of solitary crystals or rosette aggregates, occasionally occurring in 
the form of short rods, sphaerites, or in the form of V- or W-shaped 
crystals. Both glandular and non-glandular hairs occur in a num- 
ber of specific forms. Stinging hairs are also found in a number of 
tropical genera. 

Stillingia. — Queen's Root. — The root of Stillingia sylvatica 
(Fam. Euphorbiacese), a perennial herb indigenous to the southern 
United States. The root is collected in August, deprived of its root- 
lets, cut into transverse pieces and carefully dried. 

Description. — (Fig. 170.) Cylindrical, tapering, and slightly 
branched, about 40 cm. in length; usually cut into pieces 2 to 10 
cm. in length, 5 to 30 mm. in diameter; externally dark brown, longi- 
tudinally wrinkled, rootlets or rootlet-scars few; fracture of bark 
fibrous; internally, cork, reddish-brown, thin; inner bark light red- 
dish-brown (when fresh whitish), 0.5 to 4 mm. in thickness, soft, 
spongy, with numerous resinous-tanniferous cells and easily separable 
from the porous, radiate wood; odor faint; taste bitter, acrid and 
pungent. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 170.) In the thin lateral roots the epi- 
dermis is soon replaced by a thin-walled exodermis surrounding a 
cortical parenchyma, consisting of about 5 layers of mostly collapsed 
cells, which are without starch. The endodermis is thin walled 
(Fig. 170, H) and the pericambium shows several tangential 
divisions, giving rise to the cork, which later on forms the protective 
tissue around the secondary cortex, when the peripheral tissues 
from epidermis to endodermis become thrown off. There are in the 
stele three broad strands of primary leptome, in which many stereids 
are scattered, a structure which is apparently not present in the other 
Euphorbiaceous drugs. The hadrome consists of the three primordial 
rays and generally somewhat wider vessels are developed on the inner 
flank of the leptome. There is no pith and the conjunctive tissue is 
but sparingly represented. 

In slightly thicker roots there is a corresponding structure and 
the leptome here contains very many stereids; on the other hand the 
secondary leptome is destitute of stereome and is represented by 
exceedingly narrow strands in the now typical collateral vascular 
bundle (Fig. 170, 7). 

The thick fusiform roots show a strongly developed cork, con- 
sisting of thin-walled brownish cells; a cortex of nearly isodiametric, 
thin-walled, starch-bearing parenchyma, scattered strands of bast 
fibers occurring singly or in small groups, and reddish-brown tannif- 
erous cells traversing the secondary cortex; the secondary leptome 



392 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




^OOOOOpOOCBp 

5QOOOQ2000C 
>QP00^80C / 



Fig. 170. — Stillingia: A, the rhizome (r) of Stillingia sylvatica, showing the 
bases of the aerial shoots (b), and the large fusiform roots (fr). B, one of 
the obovate, glandular, serrate leaves. C, the inflorescence consisting of a 
terminal spike of flowers, the staminate being above and the pistillate below. 
D, a cluster of staminate flowers with the bract and glands. E, a staminate 
flower. F, a pistil. G, a transverse section of the ovary. H, transverse 
section of a thin lateral root: End, endodermis; P, cork formed in the peri- 
cycle; L, leptome interspersed with stereids, or lignified sclerenchymatous 
cells (St). I, transverse section of a root; L, leptome without stereids; 
Camb, cambium. J, transverse section of an overground branch: Ep, 
epidermis; Coll. collenchyma. — After Holm, Merck's Report, 1911, p. 36. 



INDIA-RUBBER 393 

contains no stereids, but is made up of strands of more or less col- 
lapsed sieve cells; cambium zone is distinct; the wood consists of 
medullary rays from 1 to 2 cells wide, separating the narrow wedges 
of xylem, the latter being mostly made up of wood parenchyma, a 
few wood fibers and occasional tracheae; the primary vessels are still 
to be observed in the center of the stele ; the bast fibers are very irreg- 
ular in outline, more or less tuberculated, the walls being strongly 
thickened; calcium oxalate may occur in the form of rosette aggregates. 

Powder. — Pinkish-brown or light reddish-brown; starch grains 
numerous, from 0.005 to 0.035 mm. in diameter, mostly single, 
spheroidal, ellipsoidal, of variable shapes, and usually with a central 
cleft; fragments, with more or less tabular secretion cells containing 
a reddish-brown, amorphous, resinous substance; tracheaB mostly 
with simple pores and associated with wood fibers, the walls being 
very thin, lignified and possessing numerous, transverse slit-like, 
simple pores and swelling perceptibly in potassium hydrate solution; 
bast fibers long, narrow, the walls thick and slightly lignified; frag- 
ments of reddish-brown cork cells; occasionally rosette aggregates of 
calcium oxalate, about 0.035 mm. in diameter. 

Constituents. — A volatile oil, with the odor and taste of the root, 
from 3 to 4 per cent; an acrid resin sylvacrol; an acrid fixed oil; 10 
to 12 per cent of tannin; starch; calcium oxalate; ash about 5 
per cent. 

Literature. — Holm, Merck's Report, 1911, p. 36; Miller, Brooks 
and Rutledge, Jour. A. Ph. A., 1915, 4, p. 445. 

Elastica. — Caoutchouc, India-Rubber. — The latex or milk- 
juice of Hevea braziliensis, and probably other species of Hevea 
(Fam. Euphorbiaceae), trees indigenous to Brazil. The milk-juice is 
obtained by making incisions in the bark of the tree and is collected 
in small cups fastened to the trees. This is then poured into a larger 
vessel in which is placed a wooden paddle. The latter, with adhering 
latex, is dexterously revolved in an open fire until coagulated, new 
material being added from time to time until flask-shaped masses 
are formed which are then removed, and constitute the commercial 
article known as " bolacho." The best grade, known as Para 
Rubber, is official. 

Description. — In elastic, flask-shaped masses or pieces varying in 
form and size; light, floating on water; externally brownish to 
brownish-black; internally brownish, consisting of a number of thin, 
alternate light and dark layers, due to the superimposed coats of 
latex formed during the drying process; odor slight, empyreumatic ; 
nearly tasteless. 



394 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Caoutchouc is insoluble in water, dilute acids, or dilute solutions 
of the alkalies; more or less soluble in chloroform, carbon disulphide, 
oil of turpentine, benzin and benzol. It melts at about 125° C, 
remaining soft and adhesive after cooling. 

Constituents. — Caoutchouc consists chiefly of two hydrocarbons, 
one of which is ductile and readily soluble in chloroform, and the 
other elastic and less soluble in chloroform; it also contains 1 to 2 
per cent of resin, volatile oil, etc. 

Allied Plants. — African rubber is obtained from several species 
of Landolphia and Kichsia africana (Fam. Apocynaceae). Bahia 
rubber is derived from Hancornia speciosa (Fam. Apocynaceae). 
Central American or Panama rubber is obtained from Castilloa elas- 
tica (Fam. Moraceae). Ceara rubber is the product of Manihot 
Glaziovii (Fam. Euphorbiaceae). East India rubber is the product 
of the commonly cultivated rubber plant, Ficus elastica (Fam. Mora- 
ceae). Penang or Borneo rubber is the product of several species of 
Urceola (Fam. Apocynaceae). 

Vulcanization of Rubber. — Caoutchouc retains its elastic and 
other properties and is not affected by heat, if it is first purified and 
then mixed with sulphur or sulphides. Ordinary rubber articles are 
prepared in this manner. Hard rubber articles are manufactured 
from Borneo rubber, to which colophony, gum balata and caoutchouc 
are added; a number of mineral substances being added to cheapen 
as well as to color the final product. 

Kamala. — Glandule Rottler^e, Rottlera or Kameela. — The 
hairs obtained from the capsules of Mallotus philippinensis (Fam. 
Euphorbiaceae), an evergreen shrub indigenous to southeastern Asia 
and widely distributed throughout tropical Asia and Australia. The 
native women and children go out to the foothills where the trees 
are growing and collect the glandular-hairy capsules. These are 
then thrown into large baskets in which they are rolled about, at the 
same time being rubbed with their hands, so as to remove the hairy 
covering. This impure powder is collected, passed through a sieve 
to remove the larger fragments and tissues, other than the hairs. 
Most of the commercial supplies are exported from Indo-China to 
London whence it is distributed to various European ports and 
purified. 

Description. — (Fig. 171.) A fine, granular, brownish-red powder, 
consisting of yellowish-red, glandular hairs and grayish, stellate non- 
glandular hairs, also a small quantity of vegetable tissues. The 
glandular hairs consist of a very short 1-celled stalk, which is usually 
wanting in the drug, and a nearly spheroidal, multicellular head 



KAMALA 



395 



from 0.040 to 0.100 mm. in diameter and consisting of from 20 to 
50 ellipsoidal, somewhat spatulate separate cells, which are radiately 
arranged and inserted upon a short central stalk (Fig. 171, B). The 
non-glandular hairs are peltate, consisting of from 5 to 20 unicellular 
or uniseriate, thick-walled hairs, which are frequently somewhat 




Fig. 171. — Kamala. A, glandular hair extracted with chloroform and mounted 
in a solution of hydrated chloral; St, short stalk; Cu, cuticle; Se, resinous 
secretion; Z, elongated ovoid, somewhat spatulate separate cells and of 
which there are some 20 to 60 comprising the glandular hair. B, a longi- 
tudinal section through a glandular hair showing the position and arrange- 
ment of the individual cells ; St, short stalk; Cu, cuticle; Se, resinous secre- 
tion; Cm, wall of individual cells; P, granular cytoplasm, peltate groups 
of unicellular (C) and uniseriate (D) non-glandular hairs. — A and B, after 
Meyer; C and D after Vogl. 



hooked at the end. Occasional fragments of the outer layers of the 
pericarp are also present. Irregular angular fragments of sand and 
other earthy or inorganic impurities may be present to the extent of 
6 to 8 per cent. 

Constituents. — The important constituent is about 80 per cent 
of a dark brownish-red resin composed of a crystalline principle, 



396 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

rottlerin; isorottlerin ; two reddish-yellow resins; a coloring principle 
and wax. It also contains a trace of volatile oil, starch, sugar, 
tannin, oxalic and citric acids. 

Cascarilla. — Cortex Cascarilla or Cascarilla Bark. — 
The dried bark of Croton Eluteria (Fam. Euphorbiacese), a tree-like 
shrub indigenous to the West Indies. The commercial supplies are 
chiefly obtained from Nassau, Bahama Islands. The bark was 
formerly official and is now used to a limited extent in medicine. 
On account of the aromatic odor which it emits on burning, it is 
used in fumigating mixtures. It is largely used in flavoring liquors 
and in scenting tobacco. 

Description. — In quills or transversely curved pieces, from 2.5 
to 10 cm. in length, 4 to 12 mm. in width, and 0.5 to 3 mm. in thick- 
ness; externally grayish-brown with patches of foliaceous lichens, 
having minute black apothecia, longitudinally wrinkled and trans- 
versely fissured; inner surface dark brown, longitudinally striate; 
fracture short, uneven, resinous; fractured surface showing an 
easily exfoliated cork, primary cortex more or less mottled from the 
whitish oil cells and the brownish resin cells; secondary cortex, dark 
reddish-brown with narrow, white medullary rays, between which 
are distributed the strands of leptome and secretion cells; odor 
aromatic, fragrant; taste aromatic and very bitter. 

Inner Structure. — Corky layer consisting of large tabular or 
polygonal cells, the outer walls being very thick, and the inner walls 
relatively thin, having numerous small projections in which are 
imbedded minute rod-shaped crystals of calcium oxalate. It is 
supposed that the whitish color of the bark is due in part to these 
crystal cells. Phelloderm consisting of small thin-walled starch- 
bearing parenchyma, colorless oil secretion cells having suberized 
walls, crystal cells containing rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate, 
and tannin secretion cells containing an orange- or reddish-brown 
amorphous content, which is colored deep blue with solutions of 
ferric salts; primary cortex having small groups of sieve and an 
interrupted circle of sclerenchymatous fibers, near which occur the 
laticiferous cells that are filled with a brownish colored secretion; 
secondary cortex with numerous medullary rays, 1 to 3 cells in 
width, and from 15 to 20 cells in height, each cell containing either a 
rosette aggregate or a monoclinic prism of calcium oxalate; between 
the numerous plates of more or less collapsed sieve occur numerous 
oil secretion cells, which are arranged in short rows, and a few bast 
fibers, having strongly thickened lamellated and somewhat undulate 
walls; the parenchyma cells of the secondary cortex contain either 



EUPHORBIA 397 

an orange or brownish-red tannin-like substance or crystals of cal- 
cium oxalate. The laticiferous cells do not occur in this part of the 
bark, The periderm often consists of a number of broad layers of 
cork cells, which sometimes penetrates through to the inner bark. 

Powder. — Reddish-brown, having a somewhat clove-like odor; 
fragments of parenchyma containing starch grains or tannin, and 
among which occur the yellowish- or reddish-brown laticiferous 
cells; starch grains mostly single, occasionally 2- to 3-compound, the 
individual grains nearly spheroidal, from 0.003 to 0.013 mm. in 
diameter; calcium oxalate in monoclinic prisms and rosette aggre- 
gates from 0.015 to 0.025 mm. in diameter; characteristic some- 
what lignified cork cells, in surface view, polygonal in outline, about 
0.040 mm. in diameter, showing unevenly thickened and lamellated 
walls, having irregular lumina, and containing small crystals of 
calcium oxalate; bast fibers, with strongly thickened, somewhat lig- 
nified walls; tracheae, from adhering wood, having bordered pores, 
very few or wanting. 

Constituents. — Cascarilla contains 1 to 1.5 per cent of a volatile 
oil, containing eugenol, limonene, an oxygenated portion, and some 
other constituents; 15 per cent of resin; a bitter principle, cascarillin; 
tannin and vanillin. 

Literature. — Zornig, Arzneidrogen. 

Euphorbia Pilulif era. — Herba Euphorbia Pilulifer^e, 
Euphorbia Herba. — The over-ground portions of Euphorbia 
pilulif era (Fam. Euphorbiacese), an annual herb common in tropical 
and sub-tropical countries, being found in the United States from 
Texas to Arizona. The plant is gathered at the time of flowering 
or fruiting, the adhering roots removed, and carefully dried. Most 
of our commercial supplies are obtained from plants collected in 
India. 

Description. — Usually in broken fragments; stems cylindrical, 
branching, light reddish-brown and covered with coarse bristly hairs ; 
leaves opposite, short petiolate, from 15 to 40 mm. in length and 
from 4 to 12 mm. in breadth, nearly smooth and slightly pubescent 
on the veins, ovate or lanceolate, inequilateral, summit acute, base 
obtuse or somewhat rounded, minutely serrate, upper surface dark 
greenish-brown, lower surface light yellowish-brown, very brittle and 
usually very much broken in the commercial article; flowers appear 
to be axillary, but are really lateral (and often umbellate clustered), 
moncecious, having the fertile flowers in the middle of the cluster, 
both fertile and sterile flowers included in a cup-shaped 4- to 5-lobed 
involucre, resembling a calyx or corolla and having large, thick 



398 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

glands between the sinuses; fruit a light yellowish-brown, 3-locular 
capsule, about 1 mm. in length and containing very minute, ovoid- 
tetragonal seeds, which are distinctly wrinkled when mature; inodor- 
ous; taste slightly bitter. 

Constituents. — An alkaloid, 0.1 per cent; a glucosidal sub- 
stance, 0.4 per cent; several resins; caoutchouc; tannic acid; 
mucilage; sugar; protein; ash 8 to 12 per cent. 

Allied Plants. — A number of species of Euphorbia growing in 
eastern and central North America are used in medicine. The roots 
of Euphorbia corollata were at one time used as an emetic. (Consult 
Holm, Merck's Report, 1910, p. 126.) 

Semen Ricini. — Castor-oil Seeds or Castor Bean. — The ripe 
seeds of Ricinus communis (Fam. Euphorbiacese), an annual herb 
in temperate regions, but a shrub-like perennial in tropical and 
sub-tropical countries. The plant is indigenous to southern Asia 
and tropical Africa, and is extensively cultivated. There are a very 
great many varieties and the seeds vary in size and color. The larger 
seeds are imported from India, the smaller seeds coming from France 
and Italy. 

Description. — Anatropous, elliptical-ovoid, somewhat compressed, 
from 8 to 18 mm. in length, 4 to 12 mm. in breadth and from 4 to 7.5 
mm. in thickness; externally grayish-brown, mottled, varying 
considerably in color, smooth and tortoise shell-like, with a prom- 
inent whitish caruncle at the somewhat pointed end, and from 
which there arises the narrow and somewhat raised raphe which ex- 
tends, on the flat side or ventral surface, to the chalazal end of the 
seed; seed-coat thin, brittle, consisting of an outer grayish-brown 
testa and a thin whitish tegmen; endosperm large, white, oily and 
divided into two nearly equal portions usually having a lenticular 
cavity between them, and on either side of which is a thin foliaceous 
cotyledon, slightly detachable from the endosperm, and connected 
with the short caulicle and radicle, the latter directed towards the 
micropyle. 

Inner Structure. — An epidermal layer of thin-walled tabular cells, 
the inner being somewhat porous and the outer somewhat thickened 
and variously colored; a broad band consisting of from 4 to 10 rows 
of large thin- walled, more or less collapsed cells usually referred to as 
star parenchyma, and from which layer the caruncle is developed; 
beneath this is a layer of radially elongated, thin-walled, colorless 
cells, having small triangular intercellular spaces; a fourth layer, 
made up of a single row of palisade-like stone cells, attaining a length 
of 2 mm., having very thick, porous, yellowish-brown walls, and con- 



CASTOR OIL 399 

taining a brownish amorphous substance, in which is said to be 
included calcium silicate. This is the fundamental pigment layer 
of the seeds giving the basic color to the seeds, the mottling and 
variations being due to the pigments in the outer walls of the epi- 
dermal cells. A fifth layer consists of the more or less obliterated 
perisperm cells, containing rosette aggregates, and in which are 
included the fibrovascular bundles; the endosperm consists of an 
oily cytoplasm and numerous aleurone grains, the latter being 
spheroidal or ellipsoidal, about 0.020 mm. in length, and composed 
of a large rhombohedral protein crystal and one or more globoids. 

Constituents. — A fixed oil, known as castor oil, from 50 to 70 
per cent, and consisting principally of triricinolein, together with 
considerable ricinisolein, palmitin and dihydroxy stearin. Protein 
substances, about 20 per cent, and consisting of globulin, albumin, 
mucleoalbumin and glycoprotein. A very toxic alkaloid, ricine, 
which apparently is not removed in the extraction of the castor oil, 
but remains in the oil-cake, and though it is very poisonous to cattle 
does not affect poultry. It also contains a second alkaloid, ricinine; 
several ferments; an ester composed of methyl alcohol and ricininic 
acid; sugar 2.5 per cent; a bitter principle; resin; and gum. The 
seed-coat yields 10 per cent of ash; the endosperm but 3.5 per cent. 
Frabot has made a study of the foreign oils present in castor oil used 
for lubricating aviation engines. — Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1918, 90, 
p. 300. 

Literature. — Schlotterbeck, Beitrage zur Entwicklungsgeschichte 
pharmakog. wichtiger Samen. Inaug.-Diss., Bern. 

Croton. — Semen Tiglii or Croton Seed. — The ripe seeds of 
Croton Tiglium (Fam. Euphorbiacese) , a small tree indigenous to 
tropical Asia and cultivated in the tropical countries of the Eastern 
Continent. 

The seeds resemble those of Ricinus in size and general structure, 
except that they are not so smooth, being somewhat scaly, and have 
an almost uniform light reddish-brown color. The caruncle is 
usually absent in the commercial article. The perisperm layer is 
free from calcium oxalate, and the aleurone grains of the endosperm 
cells not infrequently have large rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate 
in place of the protein crystals. 

Croton seeds contain from 30 to 60 per cent of a fixed oil, com- 
posed of the glycerides of the following acids : stearic, palmitic, myris- 
tic, lauric, oleic, tiglic, acetic, butyric, formic and valeric. Pro- 
tein substances about 18 per cent; a very toxic albuminous sub- 
stance, crotin, consisting of at least two principles, crotonglobulin 



400 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

and crotonalbumin; the alkaloid ricinine, also found in Ricinus; 
several ferments; ash from 4 to 6 per cent. 

Transvaal Croton Bark.— The bark of the tree, Croton Gubouga 
S. Moore, a species widely spread in Nyasaland, Rhodesia and Por- 
tuguese East Africa. — In external appearance the bark is 2 to 3 mm. 
thick, generally gray in color, with corky warts or longitudinal bands 
of cork. The bark possesses a persistently acrid, somewhat numbing 
taste. Microscopically, bast fibers, single and in groups, much 
thickened and distinctly striate, sclerenchyma cells, abundant; cal- 
cium oxalate crystals in prisms and rosettes numerous; a few small 
starch grains and small oil drops occur in the parenchyma and in the 
longitudinal section some elongated cells with the inner lamellae 
of the walls suberized and containing yellowish granular secretion. 
Petroleum spirit yields 2.54 per cent of thick fatty oil, exceedingly 
acrid in taste. Alcohol yields 2.71 per cent of an acrid extractive. 
Alcohol of 50 per cent strength apparently extracts the drug. — Green- 
ish, Pharm. Jour., 1918, 101, p. 289. 

Cassava Starch. — Amylum Manihot, Para — or Brazilian 
Arrowroot. — The starch grains obtained from the thickened roots 
of the bitter cassava (Manihot utilissima) and the sweet cassava 
(Manihot palmata Aipi), perennial herbs belonging to the Euphor- 
biacese, natives of South America and extensively cultivated in the 
West Indies, tropical South America and to some extent in Florida 
and other southern States. The plant is very easily grown and pro- 
duces very large roots, weighing sometimes 5 K. At harvest time the 
roots are dug, washed, cut and scraped, whereby the starch grains 
are released and finally obtained by methods, similar to those em- 
ployed in the manufacture of potato starch. The starch is obtained 
in large quantities in Brazil from the root of the bitter cassava, 
the hydrocyanic acid being eliminated during the process of wash- 
ing and drying. In Florida considerable starch is made from the 
sweet cassava. As this starch is sold very often at a price below 
even that of corn starch it is used to some extent in the arts, chiefly 
as a sizing for cotton fabrics. 

Cassava starch occurs as a fine mobile powder, the grains being 
mostly single or 2- to 8-compound, the individual grains being some- 
what plano-convex or bell-shaped, varying from 0.005 to 0.030 mm. 
in diameter and having a distinct central circular or radiating cleft 
(Fig. 20). 

Tapioca is formed by heating the cassava starch while it still 
contains a maximum degree of moisture. It is heated upon iron 
plates first at a low temperature, which is gradually increased until 



SUMAC FAMILY 401 

the starch grains are agglutinated into the familiar form of " pearl 
tapioca." Any other starch, if moistened and subjected to the same 
process of heating, will result in the production of forms similar 
to those of the genuine article. Tapioca is chiefly used in the making 
of puddings. 

Cluytia Similis. — The entire plant of Cluytia similis (Fam. 
Euphorbiaceae), indigenous to South Africa, is reputed to be of 
value as an antidote for anthrax and for the disinfection of anthrax- 
infected meat, while the root is stated to be eaten by some of the 
natives as an antidote for snake-bite poisoning. A chemical exam- 
ination of the entire over-ground portion showed it to contain a 
small amount of a volatile oil; a quantity of sugar; potassium chlor- 
ide; and a number of definite substances including several new com- 
pounds, viz., chry sophanol ; fumaric acid; cluytinic acid; cluytyl 
alcohol, cluytyl cluytinate; cluytinasterol; triacontane; a mixture 
of fatty acids; a substance designated cluytianol, which is probably 
a phytosterol glucoside; and a compound which is probably tri- 
hydroxy-dihydro-anthraquinone. — Power, Jour. Chem. Soc, 1912, 
p. 2221. 

ANACARDIACE.E, OR SUMAC FAMILY 

A family consisting of about 400 trees or shrubs, sometimes climb- 
ing, and very abundant in the tropics and sub-tropics, a few being 
found in the temperate zones. The typical genus, Rhus, of which 
there are a number of species found in the United States, is character- 
ized by compound leaves, small greenish-white or yellow flowers, 
occurring in terminal panicles, and drupaceous, often crimson-col- 
ored, fruits (Fig. 175). All of the plants of this family possess resin- 
canals, which are situated in the phloem portion of the vascular 
bundle of the axis and leaves. In some few cases these are also found 
in the cells comprising the medullary rays, pith and cortex. In addi- 
tion, tanninsacs occur more or less abundantly, and occasionally lysig- 
enous mucilage cavities are present. More or less crescent-shaped 
groups of bast fibers occur in the pericycle, enclosing on the concave 
side a large resin canal ; occasionally the pericycle is a composite and 
continuous ring of sclerenchyma. The tracheae are usually marked 
with simple pores, occasionally having scalariform perforations. The 
wood fibers have simple pores and usually septate transverse walls. 
Calcium oxalate is secreted, in some of the cells of the cortical paren- 
chyma, in the form of rosette aggregates or solitary crystals, the latter 
sometimes being arranged in longitudinal rows, associated with the 



402 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

bast fibers to form crystal fibers. The non-glandular hairs are 
mostly unicellular. Glandular hairs of a number of specific forms 
are developed. 

Rhus Glabra.— Sumac Berries.— The fruit of Rhus glabra 
(Fam. Anacardiacese), a smooth, glaucous shrub (Fig. 172), indigenous 
to Canada and the United States, extending as far west as Arizona. 

Description. — Drupe dry, superior, nearly globular, flattened, 
3 to 4 mm. in diameter, 2.5 mm. in thickness, and with a slender 
peduncle about 2 mm. in length; reddish externally, very pubescent, 
summit with a scar and with the remains of the style, base occasionally 




Fig. 172. — A fruiting specimen of Rhus glabra showing the compound leaves 
and the long panicle of fruits, the latter, while full-grown in August, do not 
ripen until Ocotber. 

with the 5-cleft calyx; endocarp smooth, shiny, light red; 1-locular, 
1-seeded; seed campylotropous, dark-brown, smooth, hilum marked 
by a distinct scar, reserve layer wanting, embryo curved ; inodorous ; 
taste acidulous and astringent. 

Inner Structure. — For illustration of glandular and non-glandular 
hairs, consult Kraemer's Applied and Economic Botany, p. 280. 

Powder. — Brownish-red, consisting of uniseriate, non-glandular 
hairs, filled with a bright-red cell sap, being more or less elliptical, 
ovoid or spatulate in outline and about 0.150 mm. in length and 0.045 
to 0.080 mm. in width; the dividing wall is usually more or less 



POISON IVY 403 

oblique and the cells not infrequently contain rod-shaped crystals; 
some of the intermediate cells of the hairs may be collapsed and 
the reddish cell sap of all the cells of the hair may contain one or more 
air bubbles; fragments of endosperm frequent. Mounts in solutions 
of aniline sulphate and sulphuric acid stain the stone cells yellow, 
these are very small and possess irregularly thickened walls; frag- 
ments of embryo with rather small cells containing a fixed oil; occa- 
sional reddish colored fragments of epidermis and underlying spiral 
tracheae of the mesocarp. 

On mixing 1 gm. of powdered Rhus glabra witn 10 c.c. of hot 
water, shaking occasionally until cold and filtering and evaporating 
the solution in a watch crystal spontaneously, there should separate 
numerous feather-shaped crystals of Gallic Acid which polarize 
strongly with a distinct play of colors. 

Constituents. — Tannic acid about 2 per cent; gallic acid, and 
acid calcium and potassium malates. The percentage of acidity in 
the fruits, in terms of malic acid, varies from 6.5 to 8 per cent. 

Allied Plants. — The fruits of the staghorn sumac, Rhus typhina, 
a shrub very abundant in the eastern United States, have replaced 
to some extent the fruit of Rhus glabra. The drupes of these two 
plants closely resemble each other both in form and size, but the 
latter are distinguished by being covered with long, nearly straight, 
needle-like, crimson hairs. These hairs are frequently over 2 mm. 
in length, more or less undulate in outline and have relatively thicker 
walls. The constituents of Rhus typhina are probably similar to 
those of Rhus glabra, the total acidity in terms of malic acid 
ranging from 7.8 to 11.22 per cent, being much higher than in 
R. glabra. 

Allied Drugs. — The leaves of Rhus glabra contain from 16 to 25 
per cent of tannin. The galls formed on the petioles and leaves 
resemble the Chinese or Japanese galls and contain about 60 per 
cent of tannin and some gallic acid. 

Literature. — Kraemer, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1913, p. 398. 

Rhus Toxicodendron. — Poison Ivy or Poison Oak. — The fresh 
leaflets of Rhus Toxicodendron (Rhus radicans), a woody vine belong- 
ing to the Anacardiaceae, common in hedge rows, along fences and in 
thickets throughout the United States. The plant varies consider- 
ably and one or more distinct varieties are recognized. It either 
trails over the ground, or climbs by means of aerial roots, sometimes 
becoming quite shrublike (Fig. 173). 

The leaves are 3-foliate, the leaflets being ovate, acuminate, 
nearly entire, inequilateral and with short stalks; the flowers are 



404 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



green and in loose axillary panicles; the fruit is a globular, glabrous, 
grayish drupe. 

The nature of the poisonous constituents of Poisin Ivy is not 
definitely known. It was originally considered to be in the nature 




Fig. 173. — Rhus Toxicodendron: A, flowering branch showing the characteristic 
3-foliate, long petiolate leaves, the leaflets in the shrubby, climbing plants, 
being frequently dentate or lobed. The flowers are small, greenish and 
arranged in axillary panicles. B, a staminate flower. C, a longitudinal sec- 
tion through the pistil. D, a fruit which is sub-globular, nearly glabrous or 
slightly pubescent, the thin epicarp falling away eventually from the granular 
waxy, multicostate mesocarp. E, transverse section of inner portion of 
epicotyl; C, cells of cortex; L, leptome in which there is a single large resin 
canal (R) such as is common to all the Anacardiaceae; M, cambium; 77, 
hadrome in which there are a few spiral tracheae and some young libriform. 

F, surface section of the dorsal or lower epidermis of a leaflet, showing the 
lateral undulate walls of the epidermal cells and two of the stomata, which 
lack subsidiary cells, and are raised slightly above the adjoining epidermis. 

G, several of the pointed, non-glandular hairs. H, two of the glandular 
hairs. — After Holm, Merck's Report, 1910, p. 95. 



of a volatile principle. Pfaff and his pupils seemed to show that 
the poisonous principle was a non-volatile, brownish-red resin which 



POISON SUMAC 405 

is soluble in alcohol and called it toxicodendrol. Schwalbe, on 
the other hand, states that the poisonous substance is of a volatile 
nature, being formed in the laticiferous vessels and by osmosis 
is transferred to the hairs. The poison may be transmitted either 
by direct contact with the hairs, much as in the same manner with 
the nettles, or by volatilization of the oil when the hairs are broken. 
The experience of most plant collectors would seem to indicate 
that in Poison Ivy there is a volatile toxic constituent. On the 
other hand, Host and Gilg were unable to find a volatile poison in 
either the hairs or pollen of Poison Ivy. In some experiments con- 
ducted by Warren on pollen grains, similar negative results were 
obtained. The poisonous principle occurring in several species of 
Rhus is an amber-red, non-volatile liquid. It is of a resinous nature 
combining with the alkali hydroxides to form nigrescent compounds 
and otherwise behaves like certain phenolic derivatives. The 
toxic resin exists in the plant in the form of an emulsion, which readily 
blackens with the alkali hydroxides. So delicate is this reaction, 
that minute amounts of the substance may be detected by means 
of the microscope, if the plant tissues are mounted in an alcoholic 
solution of potassium hydroxide. 

Rhus Vernix. — Poison Sumac, Poison Elder or Poison Dog- 
wood. — The plant is poisonous, like Rhus Toxicodendron, and prob- 
ably contains the same principles. It is a shrub or small tree, found 
in swamps in the United States and Canada. The leaves are 7- to 
13-foliate, with obovate or oval, acuminate, entire leaflets; the flowers 
are small, green, and in axillary panicles; the fruit resembles that 
of Rhus Toxicodendron. 

Allied Plants. — Other species of Rhus are also poisonous, as 
the western Poison Oak (R. diversiloba) of the Pacific Coast, and 
the Japanese Lacquer or Varnish tree (R. vernicifera and R. suc- 
cedanea). The lacquer trees grow wild in both China and Japan, 
where they are also cultivated. The lac is obtained by incising the 
bark, and removing it with a pointed spatula. The grayish-white 
emulsion is strained and on exposure to air it changes to brown, becom- 
ing finally black. This change is due to the oxidizing enzyme, 
laccase. The natural lac (Kiurushi) contains a non-volatile, poi- 
sonous, resin-like principle and is closely associated with other 
resinous substances. When Japanese lac is thinned with camphor, 
or mixed with Unseed oil, on drying in a moist atmosphere, it forms 
the most indestructible varnish known. Various pigments are used, 
as vermilion, gamboge, acetate of iron and other substances. The 
best glossy black colors are obtained by the addition of iron. 



406 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Lithraea Caustica (Fam. Anacardiacese), a tree found in Chili, 
causes an inflammation of the skin like that caused by Rhus Toxico- 
dendron. The plant contains a resin and a volatile oil. The poi- 
sonous properties are ascribed to a volatile substance resembling 
cardol. 

Chinese and Japanese Gall. — Chinese galls are excrescences pro- 
duced on Rhus semialata as a result of the stings of an Aphis. Jap- 
anese galls are similar formations occurring on Rhus japonica. 
(See p. 168.) 

Literature. — Stevens, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1906, p. 53; Warren, 
Ibid., 1913, p. 545; Bessey, Ibid., 1914, p. 112; McNair, Jour. Am. 
Chem. Soc, 1916, p. 1417; Acree, Ibid., p. 1421. 

Mastiche. — Mastic. — The dried, resinous exudation from Pista- 
cia Lentiscus (Fam. Anacardiacese) , a large shrub indigenous to the 
Mediterranean region. The resin exudes through incisions made in 
the bark, and when dry is collected. The chief source of supply is 
the island of Scio. 

Description. — Somewhat globular or ovoid tears, 3 to 7 mm. in 
length, pale yellow or greenish-yellow, translucent, having a glass- 
like luster, comparatively free from a whitish dust; brittle; fracture 
conchoidal, becoming plastic when chewed; odor slight, balsamic; 
taste mild, terebinthinate. 

Mastic is completely soluble in ether, acetone and volatile oils. 
It is almost completely soluble in alcohol, the solution giving an 
acid reaction with litmus paper. 

Constituents. — About 90 per cent of a resin, consisting of a-resin 
(mastichic acid), which is soluble in alcohol, and /3-resin (masticin). 
which is insoluble in alcohol; a volatile oil, 1 to 2.5 per cent, with the 
balsamic odor of the drug and consisting chiefly of d-pinene. A 
small quantity of a bitter principle is also present, which is soluble 
in hot water and is precipitated by tannin. 

Allied Plants. — Various other species of Pistacia found in India 
and northern Africa yield resins resembling mastic. American 
mastic is obtained from the Peruvian Peppertree (Schinus Molle). 
Similar resins are found in other genera of the Anacardiacese, as 
Astronium and Semecarpus. 

Chios Turpentine is a product resembling mastic and is obtained 
from Pistacia Terebinthinus (Fam. Anacardiacese). It consists 
of 10 to 12 per cent of a volatile oil (consisting chiefly of pinene) and 
80 to 90 per cent of resin. 

Literature. — Lloyd, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1917, 89, p. 1. 

Astacardium. — West Indian Cashew. — The fruit of Anacardium 



CASHEW 



407 



occidentale (Fam. Anacardiacea?) , a tree indigenous to the West 
Indies and extensively cultivated in the tropics. The leaves are 
alternate and ovate and the flowers are red, very fragrant and borne 
in terminal panicles. The fruit (Fig. 174) consists of a fleshy, pear- 
shaped receptacle having at its summit the kidney-shaped, drupa- 
ceous nut; the latter is about 3.5 cm. in length, 2 cm in breadth 




Fig. 174. — West Indian Cashew: The fruits are fleshy, complex, somewhat 
pear-shaped, consisting of the fleshy receptacle (P), having at the summit 
the reniform drupaceous fruits OS). — After Alacan. 



and thickness; of a very dark brown color, nearly smooth; easily 
cut; pericarp about 4 mm. in thickness, containing large ellipsoidal 
balsam-canals; the seed is reniform, having a thick reddish-brown 
seed-coat and enclosing a large embryo. 

Inner Structure. — Epicarp consisting of a row of palisade-like 
stone cells, containing a brownish amorphous substance; the meso- 



408 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

carp consists of parenchyma having thin brown walls, in among 
which are numerous fibrovascular bundles and very large ellipsoidal 
balsam-canals which contain the vesicating principle, cardol; endo- 
carp consisting of several rows of stone cells, some of which are very 
large and matted; seed-coat characterized by thin-walled cells con- 
taining tannic acid ; the cotyledons are made up of parenchyma, con- 
taining an oily cytoplasm and starch grains, having the balsam canals 
beneath the epidermis. 

Constituents. — Cardol, a yellowish or reddish oily, vesicating 
substance, becoming darker on exposure to the air, insoluble in 
water, soluble in alcohol, ether, chloroform, solutions of the alkalies 
and sulphuric acid, the latter solution becoming colored red. Also 
anacardic acid, and tannic acid. The seeds contain from 40 to 50 
per cent of a fixed oil, consisting mostly of glycerides of oleic acid 
with some stearic acid and chloesterin. 

Anacardium Orientals. — Oriental Cashew-nut. — The fruit of 
Semecarpus Anacardium (Fam. Anacardiacese), a tree indigenous to 
northwestern India and widely distributed in southern Asia. The 
fruits resemble those of the West Indian Cashew-nut and contain 
similar principles, viz., cardol, anacardic acid and tannic acid. 
They also contain an alkaloid, chuchunine, which resembles strych- 
nine in its action. 

The fleshy receptacle of the West Indian cashew after maturing 
is sweet and edible. In Brazil, a wine is made from it which is said 
to resemble Madeira wine. The resinous juice of the stem furnishes 
a varnish ; and the fixed oil from the seeds is used in India for a floor 
dressing, to protect the people from the attacks of white ants. 

Pistachio. — Pistachio-nut or Green Almond. — The seeds of 
Pistacia vera (Fam. Anacardiacese), a tree indigenous to western 
Asia and cultivated in the Mediterranean countries and also in Cal- 
ifornia. These seeds are extensively used in confectionery and are 
from 10 to 25 mm. in length, somewhat quadrangular in cross-section 
and consist of two fleshy green cotyledons. They are readily deter- 
mined by the carmine or brown coloring matter in the seed-coat, 
which becomes green upon the addition of solutions of alkalies, and 
by the exceedingly small polygonal cells with porous walls of the 
inner epidermal layer of the seed-coat. Almond and other seeds 
dyed with coal-tar colors, are sometimes substituted for the genuine 
article. — Winton and Moeller, The Microscopy of Vegetable Foods, 
p. 315. 



WAHOO 409 

CELASTRACE^, OR STAFF-TREE FAMILY 

The plants are trees, shrubs or woody climbers, represented 
by about 350 species, which are widely distributed. The leaves 
are simple, the flowers are small and regular, the fruit is a some- 
what fleshy dehiscent pod, and the seeds usually have a reddish 
or purplish aril. The plants are furthermore distinguished by the 
development of caoutchouc-containing elements in the phloem. 
These resemble laticiferous tubes, having narrow lumina and caout- 
chouc-like contents, which are soluble in chloroform, ether and sim- 
ilar solvents. They are frequently so abundant, as in Euonymus, 
that on breaking the bark, the fragments remain connected by the 
tough elastic threads. The bast fibers in this family are usually 
associated with crystal fibers and the sieve tubes frequently possess 
scalariform sieve-plates. The tracheae show a tendency to develop 
scalariform perforations. Calcium oxalate is secreted in the form of 
solitary crystals or rosette aggregates. The cork-wings, which are 
peculiar to a number of species of Euonymus, are due to the devel- 
opment of cork in the parenchyma of the cortex. This usually arises 
at 4 different points, thus elevating the epidermis and giving the 
branches a 4-angled or slightly winged character. 

Euonymus. — Wahoo Bark. — The dried bark of the root of 
Euonymus atropurpureus (Fam. Celastracese), a shrub (Fig. 175) 
indigenous to the central and eastern United States and Labrador. 

Description. — Usually in transversely curved pieces, occasionally 
in single quills, 3 to 7 cm. in length, 0.5 to 1.5 cm. in diameter, bark 
0.5 to 1 mm. in thickness; very light; outer surface light brown, 
somewhat wrinkled, with scaly patches of soft cork, few lenticels, 
root-scars and adhering roots, which frequently perforate the bark; 
inner surface light brown, longitudinally striate, somewhat porous, 
occasionally with small pieces of yellow wood adhering; fracture 
short, with silky, projecting, caoutchouc fibers, cork light brown, 
inner and middle bark somewhat tangentially striate and with irreg- 
ular, dark-brown bast areas ; odor faint; taste bitter; acrid (Fig. 175). 

The stem bark occurs in very long, fibrous strips with a grayish- 
black cork and should be rejected. 

Inner Structure. — (Compare with Fig. 175). Periderm of 
numerous tangentially elongated, thin-walled cork cells, the outer 
layers being grayish-brown and somewhat compressed; the inner 
layers of somewhat rectangular, slightly lignified cells; primary 
cortex of isodiametric starch-bearing parenchyma, among which 
are distributed the laticiferous tubes having narrow lumina and a 



410 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



yellowish-brown caoutchouc-like content ; inner bark of long, narrow 
wedges of phloem separated by the medullary rays, from 1 to 2 
cells in width and from 10 to 20 rows in depth; phloem consisting of 
small groups of leptome separated by bast parenchmya containing 
starch, and intermixed with yellowish-brown latex cells; the latter also 
occurring in the medullary rays. In longitudinal section the caout- 
chouc fibers are frequently separated in the form of long, somewhat 




Fig. 175. — Euonymus atropropureus: A, flowering branch showing a distinctly 
petiolate leaf. B, cluster of the smooth capsular fruits. E t americanus: 
C, fruiting branch showing the opposite almost sessile leaves and axillary ver- 
rucose capsule. D, cross-section of stem showing a stoma sunk beneath 
the epidermis. E, cross-section of stem showing epidermis (e), hypodermis 
(h), palisade cells of cortex (p), parenchyma cells (pa), pericycle (s) and 
portion of the leptome (I). — After Holm. 



twisted, curved fibers, from 0.010 to 0.015 mm. in thickness, having 
highly refracting colorless walls and usually contain a yellowish- 
brown caoutchouc-like substance. 

Powder. — Light brown ; bast fibers very long, having thin, 
non-lignified, porous walls, and frequently associated with long 
caoutchouc fibers, which are soluble in ether and chloroform ; starch 



WAFER ASH 411 

grains numerous, nearly spheroidal, from 0.003 to 0.012 mm. in 
diameter; fragments of cork with nearly colorless thin walls; secre- 
tion cells with yellowish or brownish amorphous contents; calcium 
oxalate in rosette aggregates from 0.015 to 0.035 mm. in diameter, 
the amount in different specimens showing some variation. 

The stem-bark, as well as the whole twigs of E. atropurpureus, 
are frequently admixed with or substituted for Euonymus and these 
are distinguished by the presence of chloroplastids, the thick-walled 
epidermal cells around the deeply sunken stomata (Fig. 175) and the 
tracheal fragments. 

Adulterants. — The bark of Wafer Ash (Ptelea trifoliata) is occa- 
sionally substituted. It occurs in quills or transversely curved pieces 
from 3 to 4 mm. in thickness; outer surface light brown with trans- 
verse ridges and grayish-white lenticels; fracture short; broken 
surface pale yellow and waxy. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil, 1.3 per cent; a phytosterol glucoside; 
dulcitol; starch; tannic acid; a mixture of fatty acids; furan-a- 
carboxylic acid. Furthermore, four new crystalline alcohols were 
obtained, which were designated respectively, euonymol, euony- 
sterol, homoeuony sterol, and atropurol. No evidence could be 
obtained of the presence of an active glucosidal substance in the 
bark, as had previously been affirmed. — Power, Jour. Chem. Soc, 
1912, p. 1040. 

Literature. — Youngken, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1918, 90, p. 160; 
Holmes, Pharm. Jour., 1918, 100, p. 88. 

Allied Plants. — E. europaeus and other species of Euonymus are 
also used in medicine, and probably contain the same constituents. 

ACERACEJE, OR MAPLE FAMILY 

Shrubs or trees, represented chiefly by the genus Acer, and 
of which there are about 100 species, growing abundantly in the 
United States, Canada, China and Japan. They possess opposite, 
3- to 5-lobed leaves, small, green, yellow, or crimson flowers, and 
a fruit consisting of 2 long-winged samaras. They are extensively 
used as shade trees and a great many horticultural varieties have 
been produced, those of Japan being known for their highly dis- 
sected leaves and their brilliant colorings. The wood of the maple 
is extensively employed in the manufacture of furniture, flooring and 
a variety of purposes. The sap of the Sugar or Rock maple (Acer 
saccharum), is the chief source of maple sugar. This is yielded in 
greatest quantities from the trees growing in New England, especially 



412 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Vermont, and also in New York, Ohio and Indiana. The sugar is 
obtained at the beginning of spring when the growth of the buds and 
new leaves are about to develop. The trees are tapped about 1 or 2 
M. from the ground, a tubular spile being driven into the wood and 
through which the sap flows into suitable receptacles. The sap is 
then refined and enters the market either as a syrup or a loaf sugar; 
the most palatable product, however, is that which is not refined and 
in which the syrup and crystals retain their natural yellow color. 
The yield per tree is from 1.5 to 3 K. annually, and if the process is 
properly conducted, there is no damage to the trees. A small 
amount of sugar is also obtained from the black sugar maple 
(Acer saccharum nigrum) and the silver or white maple (Acer 
saccharinum) . 

Among the chief histological characters of this family the fol- 
lowing may be mentioned. The pericycle consists of either isolated 
groups of bast fibers, or a composite ring of sclerenchyma. The 
tracheae usually have narrow lumina and simple pores; the wood 
fibers also possess simple pores. Mucilaginous epidermal cells occur 
in a number of species, and in Acer Pseudo-platanus the epidermal 
cells, on the lower surface of the leaves, are modified to papillae. 
Calcium oxalate occurs in the form of solitary crystals or large rosette 
aggregates. The non-glandular hairs are either unicellular or uni- 
seriate. The glandular hairs are small and of a number of specific 
forms. 

Acer Spicatum. — Mountain Maple Bark. — The dried bark of 
Acer spicatum (Fam. Aceracese), a shrub growing in the mountainous 
sections of the United States. The bark has for years been substi- 
tuted for that of Viburnum Opulus. 

Description. — In somewhat transversely curved pieces, attaining 
a length of 20 cm.; bark about 1 mm. in thickness; outer surface 
dark grayish-brown with numerous elliptical brown lenticels and 
grayish patches of foliaceous lichens with their small brownish-black 
apothecia; inner surface light brown, obscurely longitudinally striate, 
and with usually more or less of a thin layer of wood adhering; frac- 
ture short-fibrous, uneven; odor slight; taste astringent, bitter. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 176. 

Powder. — Grayish-brown, consisting of numerous coarse fibrous 
fragments; bast fibers having strongly lignified walls and associated 
with crystal fibers, each cell containing a monoclinic prism of calcium 
oxalate about 0.010 mm. in diameter; numerous fragments of yellow- 
ish-brown or dark brown cork cells; calcium oxalate either in paren- 
chyma cells or isolated, mostly in monoclinic prisms varying from 



MAPLE 



413 



0.010 to 0.050 mm. in diameter; stone cells occasional, very irregular 
in outline and very unevenly thickened; starch grains relatively few, 




Fig. 176. — Acer spicatum: A, transverse section of bark showing cork (K); a 
narrow row of thick-walled, tangentially elongated cells (C) ; cortical paren- 
chyma (P) ; calcium oxalate (Ca) ; bast fibers (Bf) ; separation of cells (Br) ; 
medullary rays (M). B, fragments of powdered drug showing short bast 
fibers (Bf); parenchyma (P); calcium oxalate (Ca) and cork (E). C, 
tangential section, showing medullary rays (M); calcium oxalate (Ca); 
parenchyma (P); bast fibers (Bf). — Drawing by Haase. 

occurring in compound aggregates, the individual grains being from 
0.003 mm. to 0.010 mm. in diameter. 



414 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Constituents. — Acer spicatum contains a substance which gives a 
crimson color with ammonia and which may be similar to the emo- 
din of the common cathartic drugs. It also contains a principle 
which gives a blue color with ferrous sulphate solution similar to 
that obtained with rhubarb. (St. John, Am. Jour. Pharm., 1917, 
89, p. 10.) 

Literature. — Farwell, Bull, of Pharm., 1913, p. 65. 

\ 
SAPINDACE^, OR SOAPBERRY FAMILY 

A large family of over 1000 species, chiefly tropical woody 
climbers. They are especially characterized by the presence of 
the glucoside saponin, which has the property of frothing with 
water so that some of them have been employed as substitutes 
for soap, as the fruits of Sapindus, a tree which is widely distributed 
from Arizona to northern Mexico. Several forms of secretory cells 
are also found in this family, the one being more or less spheroidal or 
irregular in shape and the other in the form of elongated tubular 
cells, frequently arranged in uniseriate rows. The contents vary 
from yellowish-brown to brownish-black and apparently contain 
saponin. Some of the secretion cells give a reaction with ferric salts 
for tannin. The pericycle is usually a composite and continuous 
ring of sclerenchyma. The tracheae and wood fibers always possess 
simple pores, even where the walls are in contact with the paren- 
chyma. Calcium oxalate is usually secreted in the form of solitary 
crystals or rosette aggregates occasionally as styloids or in micro- 
crystals, when occurring in the latter form, they are usually confined 
to the epidermal cells. The walls of the epidermal cells are fre- 
quently modified to mucilage and the cells on the dorsal surface may 
be papillose. Glandular and non-glandular hairs occur in a number 
of specific forms. -I 

Guarana. — A dried paste consisting of the crushed seeds of 
Paullinia Cupana (Fam. Sapindacese), a climbing shrub native of 
Brazil and Uruguay. The commerical product is obtained from 
cultivated plants. The ripe seeds are deprived of the appendage 
or aril, crushed, made into a doughy mass with water, tapioca some- 
times being added to increase the adhesiveness, molded into forms and 
dried at a gentle heat. During the drying, the mass undergoes a 
kind of curing. Considerable skill is required in supervising the 
operation, which is performed by special workmen. In addition 
to its use in medicine, Guarana is used in the preparation of a bever- 
age which is used like tea and coffee by the people of Brazil. 



GUARANA 415 

Description. — Cylindrical sticks, 15 to 30 cm. in length, 35 to 50 
mm. in diameter; externally blackish-brown, surface marked by 
depressions, but otherwise smooth; hard, heavy and brittle, the 
fracture being uneven; internally light brown to reddish-brown, 
somewhat variegated from the fragments of contused seeds; odor 
slight; taste astringent, bitter. 

Powder. — Light pinkish-brown or dark brown; consisting 
mostly of irregular masses made up of parenchyma cells contain- 
ing more or less altered starch grains; unaltered starch grains occa- 
sional, from 0.010 to 0.025 mm. in diameter, varying from spheroidal 
and polygonal to ellipsoidal and broadly ovoid; occasional frag- 
ments with narrow elongated sclerenchymatous cells, the walls being 
thick, yellowish and non-lignified. 

If 0.001 gm. of powdered guarana is added to a slide, upon which 
a drop of hydrochloric acid has been previously placed, and a drop of 
gold chloride T. S. is added and the mixture allowed to stand for a 
few minutes, crystals of caffeine gold chloride should separate in the 
form of orthorhombic plates and needles, the latter usually occurring 
in spheroidal aggregates and finally forming branching groups. 
For microphotograph of crystals of caffeine gold chloride, consult 
Kraemer's Applied and Economic Botany, p. 163. 

Microcrystals of caffeine may be obtained upon heating 0.001 
to 0.005 gm. of powdered guarana on a watch crystal, the sublimate 
being collected either upon a microscopic slide or another watch 
crystal. (See also p. 436.) 

Constituents. — Caffeine 2.5 to 5 per cent; tannin (catechu- 
tannic acid) about 25 per cent; ash about 2 per cent. Guarana 
also contains considerable starch, a small amount of catechin, a 
volatile oil, an acrid, green fixed oil, and saponin. 

RHAMNACEjE, or buckthorn family 

A family of over 500 species, consisting of shrubs or trees, 
often woody climbers, and rather widely distributed. The leaves 
are mostly simple and stipulate, the flowers are small and regular, 
and the fruit is a drupe or capsule. The twigs of some of the species 
as Rhamnus cathartica, possess stout thorns, hence the name buck- 
thorn as applied to this species and the family. Many of the plants 
are characterized by the presence of methyl-anthraquinone deriva- 
tives, which give a bright red color with solutions of the alkalies. 
These derivatives are found in the medullary rays and distributed 
among the parenchyma cells of the cortex. Some of the plants 



416 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

of this family contain either idioblasts having brown contents, 
secretory cavities containing a brown amorphous substance, or mucil- 
age cavities. The latter when present are of lysigenous origin, and 
are distributed in the parenchyma of the cortex and in the veins of 
the leaves. The walls of the epidermal cells sometimes are modified 
to mucilage. The leaf-teeth are differentiated into glands and the 
non-glandular hairs are either unicellular, uniseriate or stellate. 
Glandular hairs do not occur. The tracheae are marked by simple 
pores except when in contact with the medullary rays, the dividing 
wall possesses bordered pores. The wood fibers are marked by 
simple perforations. 

Rhamnus Purshianus. — Cascara Sagrada. — The bark of Rham- 
nus Purshianus (Fam. Rhamnacese), a shrub indigenous to northern 
California, Washington, Oregon and the southwestern part of British 
America. The bark is collected in spring and early summer, and kept 
at least one year before being used. 

Description. — Usually in flattened or transversely curved pieces, 
occasionally in quills 2 to 10 cm. in length, 1 to 3 cm. in breadth, 
bark 1 to 3 mm. in thickness ; outer surface dark brown or brownish- 
red, frequently completely covered with grayish or silvery whitish 
lichens, several of which are peculiar to this bark, and with small 
groups of brownish apothecia, longitudinally wrinkled, sometimes 
with numerous lenticels 3 to 6 mm. in width and occasionally with 
adhering mosses, inner surface light yellow or reddish-brown, smooth, 
longitudinally striate, turning red when moistened with solutions of 
the alkalies; fracture short, with projections of bast fibers in the inner 
bark, the medullary rays 1 to 2 cells in width, forming converging 
groups; in cross-section the cambium margin is indistinctly crenate; 
odor slight, distinct; taste bitter, slightly acrid and disagreeable. 

Inner Structure. — (Figs. 177 and 178.) Periderm of usually a 
number of layers of rectangular thin-walled, yellowish-brown or 
reddish-brown cork cells, a number of which have a brown amor- 
phous content; a hypodermis of several layers of collenchymatous 
cells having a dark-brown color; primary cortex of tangentially- 
elongated cells and numerous large groups of stone cells having very 
thick, strongly lignified, finely lamellated walls, and in which the 
lumina are very small; medullary rays 1 to 4 cells in width, 15 to 25 
cells in height, the contents being frequently colored red upon the 
addition of solutions of the alkalies ; bast fibers in tangentially elon- 
gated groups in the inner bark, the walls being thick and strongly 
lignified; crystal fibers around the bast fibers with individual crys- 
tals from 0.008 to 0.015 mm. in length; parenchyma with spher- 



CASCARA SAGRADA 



417 




Fig. 177. — The outer bark and part of the inner bark of Rhamnus Purshianus in 
transverse, radial-longitudinal, and tangential-longitudinal sections. 

Mc, transverse section of inner bark. 
Mt, tangential-longitudinal section of inner bark. 
Mr, radial-longitudinal section of inner bark. 
Sc, transverse section of stone cell area. 
St, tangential-longitudinal section of stone cell area. 
Sr, radial-longitudinal section of stone cell area. 
He, transverse section of outer layers of cortex. 
Hr, radial-longitudinal section of outer layers of cortex. 
Kc, Kt, Kr, transverse tangential-longitudinal and radial longitudinal 
sections of cork. 
6, bast fibers. 
/, crystal fibers. 
p, parenchyma. 
e, sieve. 
sk, stone cells. 
m, medullary ray cells, 
c, collenchyma. 



418 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



oidical starch grains about 0.003 to 0.008 mm. in diameter, or with 
calcium oxalate either in rosette aggregates or prisms from 0.010 
to 0.020 mm. in diameter. 

Powder. — (Fig. 178.) Light brown to olive-brown; consisting 
largely of groups of bast fibers with their associated crystal fibers, 
the latter being usually distinguished with difficulty, unless the 
material has been mounted in a solution of hydrated chloral and 
thoroughly cleared by boiling; almost equally numerous are the 
groups of stone cells which are frequently associated with paren- 
chyma containing large rhombohedra of calcium oxalate; frag- 




Fig. 178. — Rhamnus Purshianus: B, BF, bast fibers; CF, crystal fibers; Ca, 
calcium oxalate crystals; S, starch grains; P, parenchyma; MR, medullary 
rays; St, stone cells; C, thick-walled, parenchyma of outer cortex; K, cork. 



ments of parenchyma and medullary ray cells colored red upon the 
addition of solutions of the alkalies; starch grains either free or 
in parenchyma cells, the individual grains being somewhat spheroidal, 
from 0.003 to 0.008 mm. in diameter; calcium oxalate in monoclinic 
prisms or rosette aggregates from 0.010 to 0.020 mm. in diameter; 
occasional fragments of yellowish- or reddish-brown cork. 

Constituents. — The nature of the active constituents of this 
drug is not known. It may contain the glucoside cascarin (pur- 
shianin), which on hydrolysis yields emodin and one or more active 



CASCARA SAGRADA 



419 



principles; and the neutral principle chrysarobin, which yields 
chrysophanic acid (see Rhubarb). The bark apparently contains 
emodin; isoemodin, a principle which is isomeric with emodin, insol- 
uble in ammonia and resembles a similar principle in Frangula; a 




Fig. 179. — Peeling Cascara bark in Washington forests. Illustrating a method 
employed in commercial collection, and the dense forest in which the col- 
lector must work. — After Johnson and Hindman. 



principle which yields on hydrolysis syringic acid; a fat consisting of 
rhamnol arachidate; a bitter principle; several resins; tannin; 
glucose; starch; calcium oxalate; and ash about 7 per cent. 



420 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 





i 




■«■• .*>/ 


! -fM 


wM PM 






1 

J 


1 1 




* 


■f ' - w 

_- __ , — . 



Fig. 180. — Transporting Cascara bark on pack horses to wagon road. — After 
Johnson and Hindinan. 




Fig. 181. — Sun-drying Cascara bark on platform of abandoned saw-mill.- 
After Johnson and Hindman. 



CASCARA SAGRADA 



421 



Cascara bark contains from 0.0137 to 0.0223 per cent of man- 
ganese. Many other laxative drugs contain manganese, and West- 
man and Rowat have suggested the establishment of a manganese 




Fig. 182. — A means of moving dried Cascara bark to bark cutter. — After Johnson 

and Hindman. 




Fig. 183. — Cutting and sacking dried Cascara bark. — After Johnson and Hindman. 



number for the valuation of the extracts of this class of drugs. Amer. 
Jour. Pharm., 1918, 90, p. 271. 

Rhamnus California, a shrub indigenous to southern California 
and the neighboring States, yields a bark which closely resembles 



i22 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



that of Rhamnus Purshianus, but may be distinguished by the fol- 
lowing characters: It occurs in quills, transversely curved or flat- 
tened pieces, the bark usually being thinner. The color is reddish- 
brown, the bark being uniformly covered with grayish lichens having 
numerous black apothecia; the inner surface is light or dark brown, 




Fig. 184. — Original packages of Cascara Sagrada (Rhamnus Purshianus). — 
After a photograph by Parke, Davis & Co. 

smooth and finely striate; the fracture, odor and taste are similar to 
Rhamnus Purshianus. The histology of Rhamnus californica closely 
resembles that of Rhamnus Purshianus. In the former the collen- 
chymatous cells are larger and the walls somewhat thicker; the med- 
ullary rays extend in more or less parallel, wavy rows and are from 



BUCKTHORN BARK 423 

1 to 7 cells in width, and from 10 to 30 cells in height; the cambium 
margin is distinctly crenate or undulate due, to the shrinking inward 
of the tissues at each of the medullary rays; nearly all of the cells, 
with the exception of the lignified tissues, contain the oxy-methyl- 
anthraquinones and are colored pinkish-red upon the addition of 
the solutions of the alkalies. 

Adulterant. — The bark of Prunus padus has been used as an 
adulterant. (Jour. A. Ph. A., 1916, 5, p. 303.) 

Literature. — Kraemer, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1912, p. 385; John- 
son and Hindman, Ibid., 1914, p. 387; Gathercoal, Jour. A. Ph. A., 
1915, p. 65. 

Frangula. — Alder Buckthorn Bark. — The dried bark of the 
stem and branches of Rhamnus Frangula (Fam. Rhamnacese), a 
shrub indigenous to Europe, northern Africa and central Asia, and 
naturalized in northern New Jersey and Long Island. The bark is 
collected in spring and kept at least one year before being used, so 
as to render inert the irritating and nauseating principles, which are 
destroyed by a ferment during the curing of the drug. The same 
results are said to be obtained by heating the bark at 37.7° C. for 
48 hours. 

Description. — In single or double quills, seldom in transversely 
curved pieces, often crushed and flattened, from 2 to 20 cm. in length, 
1 to 3 cm. in diameter, bark 0.3 to 1 mm. in thickness; outer surface 
dark brown or purplish-black, longitudinally wrinkled, with numer- 
ous lenticels 1 to 5 mm. in length, and with grayish patches of folia- 
ceous lichens and groups of light brown or brownish-black apothecia, 
older bark with a brownish, roughened cork; inner surface yellowish 
or dark brown, smooth, longitudinally striate, and reddened by solu- 
tions of the alkalies; fracture short, with projecting bast fibers in 
inner bark, being somewhat longer and coarser in thick bark; odor 
slight; taste slightly bitter, astringent and acrid. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 185.) Periderm of several layers of 
rectangular brown cork cells, having a purplish-black content, dis- 
tinguishing it from the cork of Rhamnus Purshianus which is reddish- 
brown; primary cortex of thin-walled, starch-bearing parenchyma 
and cells containing either a yellowish- or purplish-brown amorphous 
substance, or numerous rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate from 
0.010 to 0.025 mm. in diameter; inner bark with bast fibers in narrow, 
interrupted rows, having thick, strongly lignified, yellowish walls 
and narrow lumina, each group being surrounded by a layer of crystal 
fibers, in which the prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate vary from 
0.007 to 0.015 mm. in diameter; medullary rays 1 to 2 cells in width, 



424 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

occasionally 3; cells of the parenchyma and medullary rays having 
starch grains about 0.003 mm. in diameter. 

Powder. — Yellowish-brown or light pinkish-brown; bast fibers 
lignified, much thickened, with numerous pores; crystal fibers 
containing small monoclinic prisms of calcium oxalate; calcium 
oxalate also in rosette aggregates or monoclinic prisms, from 0.005 
to 0.025 mm. in diameter; starch grains nearly spheroidal, about 
0.003 mm. in diameter, not numerous; parenchymatous cells with 
yellowish- or purplish-brown contents, colored red by solutions of 
alkalies. 



Jk — 




Fie. 185. — Transverse section of inner bark of Rhamnus Frangula: b, bast fibers, 
surrounded by crystal fibers; m, medullary rays; parenchyma containing 
rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate. — After Vogl. 

Constituents. — A glucoside frangulin (rhamnoxanthin), which 
forms yellow crystals, is insoluble in water and nearly so in alcohol, 
gives a bright purple color on the addition of solutions of the alkalies, 
and on hydrolysis yields rhamnose and emodin (see Rhubarb). It 
also contains the glucoside pseudofrangulin (frangulic acid), which 
yields pseudoemodin; rhamnozanthin, a coloring principle; a vola- 
tile oil; tannin; starch; calcium oxalate; and ash 5 to 6 per cent. 

Allied Plants. — The bark of Rhamnus carniolica has been sub- 
stituted for R. Frangula. It occurs in quills or transversely curved 
pieces, the bark being from 1 to 3 mm. in thickness; externally cork 



BUCKTHORN BERRIES 425 

reddish-brown, having numerous grayish lichens and obscure light- 
brown lenticels from 1 to 2 mm. in width; inner surface grayish or 
dark brown and longitudinally striate; fracture short-fibrous; odor 
slight; taste bitter and astringent. The older pieces are distin- 
guished by having a deeply fissured cork and groups of stone cells. 
In the younger bark the medullary rays are from 4 to 7 cells in width. 

Rhamnus Catharticus. — Fructus Rhamni Catharticae, Buck- 
thorn Berries. — The ripe fruit of Rhamnus catharticus (Fam. 
Rhamnacese), a thorny shrub, indigenous to northern Africa 
and central Asia, widely distributed in Europe, and naturalized 
locally in the eastern United States. The fruits are collected when 
they are ripe, in September and October, and used either in the fresh 
or dried condition. Most of the supply of the drug is obtained from 
Hungary. 

Description. — When fresh, nearly globular or ovoid, from 4 to 8 
mm. in diameter; externally greenish-brown or purplish-black, 
having at the upper portion a ring-like disc with 4 calyx teeth, and 
at the lower portion a short stalk, which is usually lacking in the dried 
fruit ; epicarp dark violet ; sarcocarp greenish ; endocarp light yellow, 
papery; 4-locular, containing a single seed in 2 or 3 of the locules; 
seeds anatropous, triangular-convex; the raphe extending in a deep 
ridge; externally dark reddish-brown and internally light brown; 
odor slight and unpleasant; taste sweetish, bitter and acrid. The 
pericarp colors the saliva yellowish. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 186.) An epidermal layer of dark violet, 
thick-walled cells; a hypodermis of 5 rows of collenchymatous 
cells, some of which contain rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate; 
sarcocarp composed mostly of thin-walled radially elongated cells, 
among which are the large secretion cells having a yellowish, highly 
refracting, oily content; an endocarp of several layers, the outer 
consisting of stone cells having small prisms of calcium oxalate, a 
layer beneath of tabular cells, a third layer the cells having crystals 
of calcium oxalate, and an inner layer of sclerenchymatous fibers; 
inner epidermis of pericarp of large thin-walled cells, containing a 
yellowish amorphous substance ; seed-coat having an epidermal layer 
made up of thick-walled porous cells, beneath which are several layers 
or more or less collapsed cells; cells of endosperm and embryo con- 
tain an oily cytoplasm and numerous aleurone grains. Sections of 
the pericarp of the fresh fruit are colored purprish-red upon the addi- 
tion of acids and bright green on addition of solutions of che alkalies. 

Constituents. — Rhamnoemodin, being apparently the most active 
principle (see Rhubarb). A mixture of 3 distinct coloring principles 



426 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



consisting chiefly of rhamnocitrin, which forms golden-yellow crystals 
and on hydrolysis yields /3-rhamnocitrin; and rhamnolutin, which 




Fig. 186. — Rhamnus cathartica: A, cross-section through wall of the pericarp; 
E, epicarp; F, sarcocarp; H, endocarp; e, epidermis; o, calcium oxalate in 
cells of hypodermis; p, parenchyma; h, secretion cells containing a sub- 
stance which is insoluble in alcohol or hydrated chloral solutions, soluble 
in solutions of potassium hydroxide, and colored reddish-brown or greenish 
with ferric chloride solutions; c. calcium oxalate cells of endocarp; w, scler- 
otic cells; /, stereome cells. B, cross-section of entire fruit, showing one seed; 
E, F, H, g, f, w, as in A; S, seed-coat; S', outer wall of seed-coat; End, 
endosperm; c, cotyledons; g, vascular bundle. C, cross-section of a seed: 
S 1 , S 2 , S 3 , different layers of the seed-coat; R, vascular bundle of raphe; t, 
position of vessels of mestome strand; g, mestome strand; Rf, cleft in which 
raphe is situated; End, endosperm; C, cotyledons; Sv, cells with thick 
walls; Sp, parenchymatous cells. — After Meyer. 

crystallizes in yellow needles and is isomeric with luteolin and fisetin; 
also a small quantity of rhamnochrysin which forms orange needles. 



MARSHMALLOW ROOT 427 

The berries also contain a bitter principle, a violet anthocyanin, 
chlorophyll, an amorphous sugar, pectin, gum, and yield from 3 to 
5 per cent of ash. 

Allied Plants. — The fruits of Rhamnus cathartica, as well as of 
R. infectoria (known as French berries) and of R. saxatilis (called 
Persian berries) have been used as yellow dyes. The fruits of several 
species growing in China yield a green indigo. 

MALVACEAE, OR MALLOW FAMILY 

A family of about 800 species, widely distributed. The plants 
are mostly herbs, with simple leaves, regular flowers (having the 
stamens united into a column, which encloses the styles) and a 
capsular fruit. They are characterized by the presence of several 
types of mucilage secretory organs. (A), epidermal cells in which 
the walls become metamorphosed to mucilage; (B), parenchyma 
cells in the axis and leaves in which the walls undergo a mucilaginous 
modification; (C), lysigenous mucilaginous cavities which are some- 
times differentiated as canals and occur in both the pith and cortex. 
In the roots of Althaea the walls of the parenchyma cells of the vas- 
cular bundles are likewise modified to mucilage. Secretory cavities 
of schizogenous origin and containing a yellowish or yellowish-brown 
amorphous substance, are found in Gossypium and some other genera. 
The phloem portion of the vascular bundles is of a characteristic 
structure in that the wedges of phloem, in cross-section are cone- 
shaped, having the broad end near the cambium and conversely the 
broadest portion of the medullary ray wedges near the primary cortex. 
The phloem is likewise stratified into alternate strands of leptome and 
tangentially elongated groups of bast fibers (Fig. 189). The tracheae 
and wood fibers usually possess either simple or bordered pores, 
occasionally the tracheae have spiral thickenings. Calcium oxalate is 
secreted in the form of solitary crystals or rosette aggregates. The 
non-glandular hairs are usually stellate, but they may be of a number 
of other forms. The glandular hairs show a number of modifications 
in the different genera. 

Althaea .—Althaea Radix, Althaea Root, Marshmallow Root, 
Eibischwurzel. — The dried root of Althaea officinalis (Fam. Malvaceae) 
a perennial herb native of central and southern Europe, and natural- 
ized in the United States, occurring in the marshes from Massachu- 
setts to Pennsylvania. The commercial supply is obtained from 
plants cultivated in Germany, France and Holland. The roots are 
collected from plants of the second year's growth, and the periderm 



428 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



and rootlets are removed. The drug frequently is seen in commerce 
in small pieces about 5 mm. in diameter having a uniform grayish- 
white color, otherwise resembling the entire root. 

Description. — Nearly entire, cylindrical, tapering, 10 to 20 cm. 
in length, 5 to 20 mm. in diameter; externally very light brown, 
obscurely 4- to 6-angled, deeply furrowed longitudinally, covered 
with detachable bast fibers, with few circular root-scars; fracture 
of bark tough, fibrous, of wood short and granular; internally light 
brown, finely radiate, bark 0.5 to 2 mm. in thickness, and easily 
separable from the wood, cambium zone marked by a distinct brown 
line, wood porous; odor faint, aromatic; taste sweetish, mucilaginous. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 187. 



B 





Fig. 187.— Althaea Radix: A, transverse section of portion of the bark; m, 
medullary rays; sch, mucilage cells; p, parenchyma; s, leptome plates; sc, 
groups of bast fibers; o, rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate. B, trans- 
verse section through a portion of the wood; G, trachsea, having porous 
walls; T, tracheid-like wood fibers; sc, wood fibers; p, wood parenchyma; 
m, medullary rays; sch, mucilage cells; 0, rosette aggregates of calcium 
oxalate. — After Meyer. 



Powder.— Very light brown; groups of sclerenchymatous fibers, 
the latter having thick more or less lignified walls; starch grains 
numerous, from 0.005 to 0.020 mm. in diameter, ellipsoidal, usually 
having a long central cleft; tracheae with scalariform thickenings or 
with bordered pores; calcium oxalate crystals few, in rosette aggre- 
gates, 0.020 mm. to 0.030 mm. in diameter. 

Constituents.— Mucilage 25 to 35 per cent; asparagin (amido- 
succinamide) 1 to 2 per cent, which occurs in hard crystals having 
an acid reaction, insoluble in alcohol but soluble in 50 parts of cold 
water; starch about 35 per cent; pectin about 10 per cent; sugar 



ASPARAGIN 429 

about 10 per cent; ash about 5 per cent. An infusion of althaea is 
colored bright yellow with dilute solutions of the alkalies. 

Asparagin (/3-asparagin, the monamide of aspartic acid) is an 
amido compound which is most widely distributed throughout the 
vegetable kingdom. It is not only found in reserve organs as the 
tubers of the potato and dahlia, the roots of althaea, belladonna, 
etc., and the seeds of the chestnut tree, but it also occurs in young 
shoots as of asparagus and in peas, beans, and other members of the 
Leguminosae. Asparagin has also been detected in some of the fungi 
as the Agaricineae and certain of the Myxomycetes. Unlike certain 
derivatives of urea it is a plastic product playing a very important 
role in plant metabolism. On account of its crystalline character 
and solubility in water, ' it is classed among the translocatory sub- 
stances, appearing not only when proteids are being utilized by the 
plant, but when they are being formed. The crystals of asparagin 
are formed rather easily from the expressed juices of young shoots, 
and may be obtained even in sections upon mounting them in gly- 
cerin. The crystals vary in length from 0.3 mm. to 1.5 mm. 

Asparagin occurs in two forms, one of which is laevo-rotatory 
and the other dextro-rotatory; the former is the one usually present 
in plants. At 17.5° C. 1 part of asparagin is soluble in 47 parts of 
distilled water; at 98° C, 1 part is soluble in 1.9 parts of distilled 
water. 1 

Allied Plants. — The roots of a number of other genera of this 
family are used for similar purposes, as those of Kosteletzyka penta- 
carpa of southern Europe; Hibiscus Bancroftianus of the West 
Indies; Malvaviscus pentacarpus of Mexico; H. Rosa Sinensis of 
tropical Asia and cultivated; Althaea rosea of the Levant and cul- 
tivated; and Sida ovalis of Peru. Mucilage is also found in the 
flowers and leaves of one or more species of Malva, Sida, Pavonia, 
Hibiscus, Pachira and Eriodendron. 

Altilea Folia. — Marshmallow Leaves, Eibischblatter. — The 
leaves of Althaea officinalis (Fam. Malvacaea), a perennial herb com- 
mon in the salt marshes of New England and New York, naturalized 
from Europe and cultivated quite extensively. The leaves are 
gathered at the time of flowering of the plant during June and July, 
and carefully dried. 

Description. — Leaves broadly ovate, having petioles about 2.5 
cm. in length; lamina from 5 to 10 cm. in length and 3 to 8 cm. in 
breadth; summit acute, base somewhat truncate or heart-shaped; 

1 Grattarola, Zeitschr. f. Krystallog., 1892, p. 618. For microphotographs 
of Asparagin, consult Kraemer's Applied and Economic Botany, p. 168. 



430 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



margin dentate and usually more or less 3-lobed; both surfaces 
grayish-green, densely velvety pubescent, the midrib and veins of 
the first order prominent on the lower surface; inodorous; taste 
mucilaginous. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 188. 

Powder.— Grayish-green; fragments of non-lignified, stellate 
hairs, usually occurring in clusters of from two to six, having dis- 
tinctly porous basal portions and attaining a length of 0.600 mm., 
the walls being about 0.008 mm. in thickness; occasional multi- 
cellular glandular hairs with short stalks; calcium oxalate in rosette 




Fig. 188. — Althaea Folia; A, transverse section through a vein of the leaf; Ep, 
epidermal cells on the ventral surface; p, palisade cells; g, tracheae; s, lep- 
tome; O, rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate; Ed, epidermal cells of the 
dorsal or lower surface. B, longitudinal section through stellate hair on 
dorsal surface, and showing the calcium oxalate crystals in the cells beneath. 
C, transverse section through one of the principal veins; c, collenchyma; m, 
mesophyll; G, tracheae; S, leptome. — After Meyer. 



aggregates from 0.015 to 0.025 mm. in diameter; fragments of epi- 
dermal tissue with stomata, the latter being about 0.025 mm. in 
length; mucilage cells distinguished by their highly refracting con- 
tents; usually a few pollen grains, spheroidal, covered with spines, 
and about 0.100 mm. in diameter. — (Newcomb.) 

Constituents. — The chemical constituents of the leaves have 
not been carefully investigated, and in addition to the usual constit- 
uents found in leaves, they contain an appreciable quantity of 



COTTON 431 

mucilage, to which their medical properties are due. They also yield 
from 10 to 15 per cent of ash. 

Malv^ Folia. — Mallow Leaves. — The dried leaves of Malva 
sylvestris and Malva neglecta (Fam. Malvaceae). 

Description. — Leaves long petiolate, orbicular or reniform, slightly 
truncate or cordate at the base, 10 to 20 cm. in length, 15 to 20 cm. 
in width, with three to seven shallow, angular or rounded lobes, vena- 
tion palmate, margins crenate-dentate, pubescent on both sides; 
inodorous; taste very mucilaginous. 

Inner Structure. — Epidermal cells mucilaginous, stomata, on both 
surfaces, each with three or four neighboring cells ; hairs of three dis- 
tinct types; (a), small, short stalked glandular hairs; (6), large one- 
celled curved hairs with thick walls and (c) stellate hairs having two 
to six cells (the latter especially numerous in M. sylvestris) ; palisade 
tissue of one or two rows of cells, the mesophyl of three or four rows; 
calcium oxalate in rosette aggregates; mucilage cells numerous. 

Powder. — Light green; hairs characteristic, and calcium oxalate 
in rosette aggregates. 

Gossypium Purificatum. — Purified Cotton. — The hairs of the 
seeds of Gossypium hirsutum, G. barbadense, and other species of 
Gossypium (Fam. Malvaceae), biennial or triennial shrubs indige- 
nous to sub-tropical Asia and Africa, and cultivated in all tropical 
and sub-tropical countries. The seeds are hand-picked, freed from 
dust by screens or drums, and the cotton removed in the cotton- 
gin. It is then freed from mechanical impurities, deprived of fatty 
and other substances and finally bleached. It is estimated that 
1,000 million K. of cotton are produced annually. Long staple or 
sea-island cotton is obtained from G. hirsutum, while short staple 
or upland cotton is derived from G. barbadense. 

Description. — A white, soft tufted mass, consisting of some- 
what flattened, twisted and spirally striate, 1-celled, non-glandular 
hairs, from 2.5 to 4.5 cm. in length; inodorous and tasteless. 

Absorbent cotton is soluble in ammoniacal solution of cupric 
oxide, yields less than 1 per cent of ash, and on treating it with 
water, the solution should have a neutral reaction and not give any 
reaction with ammonium carbonate, barium chloride, mercuric 
chloride or silver nitrate. 

Adulterants. — Various substances may be added to absorbent 
cotton to increase the rate of absorption of water, as chlorides of 
calcium, magnesium and zinc, glycerin and glucose; loading mate- 
rials, as barium and calcium salts, and clay are added to inferior 
grades of the article. 



432 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

The hairs from immature seeds are known as " dead cotton " 
and are distinguished by having very thin walls, a thin outer layer 
of cutin, but lack the essential properties for technical uses. 

Gossypii Cortex. — Gossypii Radicis Cortex, Cotton Root Bark. — 
The dried bark of the root of Gossypium herbaceum and of other 
species of Gossypium (Fam. Malvaceae), biennial or triennial herbs or 
shrubs indigenous to sub-tropical Asia and Africa, and now cultivated 
in all tropical and sub-tropical countries. 

Description. — In flexible, transversely curved or slightly quilled 
pieces, 6 to 30 cm. in length, 5 to 15 mm. in diameter, bark 0.2 to 1 
mm. in thickness; outer surface light brown, longitudinally wrinkled, 
with small lenticels, periderm frequently exfoliated; inner surface 
light brown, longitudinally striate; fracture tough, fibrous, surface 
light brown, tangentially striate, readily separable into fibrous layers ; 
odor faint; taste slightly astringent and acrid. 

Inner Structure. — (Figs. 189 and 190.) Periderm consisting of a 
number of layers of rectangular or somewhat tabular cells, having 
thin, yellowish-brown walls; primary cortex consisting of parenchyma 
containing starch grains, tannin and large secretory cavities filled 
with a brownish amorphous content ; inner bark having nearly closed 
rings of bast fibers arranged in interrupted concentric circles, sepa- 
rated radially by medullary rays and tangentially by the leptome tis- 
sue; bast fibers from 0.300 to 1.000 mm. in length, about 0.015 mm. 
in width, the walls being about 0.005 mm. in thickness, strongly lig- 
nified and with very few pores, the ends being acute or markedly 
attenuate; medullary rays from 1 to 6 cells wide, the cells usually 
filled with starch, the grains being single or 2- to 4-compound, the 
individual grains spheroidal and from 0.003 to 0.020 mm. in diameter; 
calcium oxalate in rosette aggregates, from 0.010 to 0.025 mm. in 
diameter. 

Powder. — Light brown; bast fibers long, narrow, thick-walled, 
lignified; starch grains somewhat spheroidal from 0.003 to 0.020 
mm. in diameter, single or compound; parenchymatous cells with 
irregular yellowish and reddish tannin masses; calcium oxalate 
crystals in rosette aggregates from 0.010 to 0.025 mm. in 
diameter. 

Constituents. — About 8 per cent of a peculiar, colorless acid 
resin, which is soluble in water and becomes reddish and insoluble on 
exposure to air. The drug also contains fixed oil; tannin; starch 
and calcium oxalate. 

The Flowers of the cotton plant contain an interesting glucoside, 
gossypetin, which becomes green on oxidation and is colored orange- 



COTTON ROOT BARK 



433 




Fig. 189. — Transverse section of cottom root bark showing the characteristic 
cone-shaped strands of leptome: C, layers of cork; Cr, rosette aggregates of 
calcium oxalate from 0.010 tc 0.025 mm. in diameter; B, bast; N, medullary 
rays; T, cells containing tannin; S, leptome. — After Morgan. 



434 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 190. — Longitudinal section of cotton root bark: C, cork cells; P, paren- 
chyma; B, bast fibers; SR, secretory cavities, having a brownish, amor- 
phous content; M, medullary rays; T, cells containing tannin; K, rosette 
aggregates of calcium oxalate from 0.010 to 0.025 mm. in diameter. — After 
Morgan. 



KOLA 435 

red with solutions of the alkalies. It somewhat resembles a similar 
principle found in arbor vitae (Thuja occidentalis) . 

Cottonseed contains 0.6 per cent of a toxic principle called Gossy- 
pol. It occurs in secretory cavities in all parts of the plant. It occurs 
in the cold-pressed oil to the extent of 1.5 per cent, from which it may 
be removed upon treatment with alkalies. (Carruth, Amer. Jour. 
Pharm., 1918, 90, p. 649.) 

STERCULIACEjE, or cola family 

A small family of about 150 species of tropical and sub-tropical 
plants. They comprise a great many forms, some being lianes. 
They resemble those of the Malvaceae very closely and are dis- 
tinguished by their 2-locular anthers. The mucilage secretory 
organs occur as mucilaginous membranes; lysigenous mucilaginous 
cavities; and as schizogenous or lysigenous canals. In addition 
tannin-secretion cells are usually present. The tracheae and wood 
fibers are marked by simple pores. Calcium oxalate is secreted 
in the form of solitary crystals and rosette aggregates, occasionally 
as prismatic crystals. Non-glandular hairs, although usually stellate, 
peltate or tufted, may occur in other specific forms. The glandular 
hairs are either unicellular, or made up of a few cells, and somewhat 
resemble those of the Malvaceae. 

Cola. — Kola, Kola Nut. — The kernel of the seed of Cola acu- 
minata (Fam. Stercuhaceae), a tree indigenous to Guinea, and now 
extensively cultivated in the West Indies and South America. The 
commercial supplies come principally from western Africa and the 
West Indies. The seed obtained from the West Indies is known 
commercially as Bichy or Bissy-bissy nut. The kernels are used in a 
fresh condition or the cotjledons are separated and dried. 

Description. — Anatropous, plano-convex, polygonal, three- to 
six-sided, 18 to 35 mm. in length and 5 to 20 mm. in diameter; 
externally yellowish or yellowish-red when fresh, but becoming 
darker with age and on drying, with a shallow furrow indicating 
the line of union of the two cotyledons, micropyle forming a dis- 
tinct cleft at one end, otherwise nearly smooth; easily cut when 
fresh, but hard when dry; without reserve layers, cotyledons unequal 
and varying from two to five in number, the hypocotyl small; odor 
distinct; taste astringent, somewhat sweet. 

Powder. — Reddish-brown; starch grains numerous, from 0.005 
to 0.045 mm. in diameter, spheroidal, ellipsoidal, shell-shaped or 
irregularly oblong, occasionally with a protuberance on one side, 



436 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

many of the larger grains show lamella? and a circular point of origin 
of growth or a central fissure, the larger grains show a distinct cross 
when examined with the micro-polariscope. The powder also 
exhibits numerous parenchyma cells about 0.065 mm. in diameter, 
the walls being frequently reddish-brown in color. — (Newcomb.) 

Constituents. — Starch 35 to 40 per cent, the grains resembling 
those of potato starch but uniformly smaller; caffeine 1.5 to 3.6 
per cent; theobromine 0.02 to 0.09 per cent; 1.5 to 4 per cent of a 
tannin; an enzyme similar to the lipase found in nutmeg and black 
pepper which decomposes fats. 

Caffeine or theine (trimethyl xanthine or methyl theobromine) 
also occurs in coffee, tea, cacao, guarana and Mate. It separates in 
the form of acicular crystals having a bitter taste, is soluble in water 
and alcohol, the solutions being neutral; and may be sublimed with- 
out decomposition on heating. On treating a small quantity of 
caffeine with a few drops of nitric acid or chlorin water and evap- 
orating the solution to dryness on a water bath, the reddish-yellow 
residue is colored purplish by ammonia. A similar reaction is also 
obtained by treating the alkaloid with hydrochloric acid and a crystal 
of potassium chlorate, evaporating the solution and adding a drop of 
ammonia water to the residue. 

While caffeine can be produced synthetically, it is usually pre- 
pared from tea and tea dust or sweepings. If crystallized from 
aqueous solutions it contains one molecule of water of crystallization 
which is wanting if it is crystallized from alcohol, chloroform or ether. 
The crystals from aqueous solutions may attain a length of 20 mm. 

At 25° C. one part of caffeine is soluble in 45.6 parts of water; 
53.2 parts of alcohol; 375 parts of ether; and 8 parts of chloroform. 

Solutions of caffeine give with gold chloride and some other 
reagents crystalline precipitates. 1 To prepare caffeine gold chloride 
the caffeine may be dissolved in distilled water, dilute alcohol, abso- 
lute alcohol or a mixture of equal parts of absolute alcohol and 
chloroform. One or two drops of the caffeine solution are placed 
upon a slide, to which is then added one or two drops of an aqueous 
solution of gold chloride. The two solutions are mixed by the use of 
a glass rod and then allowed to crystallize. Crystals of caffeine gold 
chloride are usually formed rather quickly, larger crystals being 
obtained from the more dilute solutions of caffeine. The crystal are 
also formed in solutions of caffeine acidulated with hydrochloric acid. 
The microscopic crystals of caffeine gold chloride vary in length from 

1 Nicholson, Ann. Chem. Pharm., 1847 (62), p. 71; and E. Schmidt, Ibid., 
1883 (217), p. 283. 



THEOBROMINE 437 

0.4 mm. to 4 mm. They are said to be decomposed, at least in part, 
on washing with either alcohol or water. The .Pharmacopoeia 
Helvetica gives the following micro-chemical test for determining 
the presence of caffeine in cola : Transverse sections of the cotyledons 
are placed in strong hydrochloric acid and slightly heated; then one 
or two drops of a solution of gold chloride are added and the sections 
pushed to one side. The liquid is allowed to evaporate and near 
the edge of the residue branching groups of needles of caffeine gold 
chloride separate. 1 

Theobromine (dimethyl-xanthine) also occurs in cacao and 
crystallizes in rhombic prisms, which are sparingly soluble in water 
and alcohol, the solutions being slightly acid. It sublimes on heating 
without decomposition, and forms crystalhzable salts with mineral 
acids, which are readily decomposed with water. Theobromine on 
treatment with methyl iodide yields caffeine. Both caffeine and 
theobromine are also prepared synthetically. 

Fresh kola nuts also yield from 0.3 to 0.4 per cent of a crystalline 
tannin-containing substance, kolatin, which is combined with the 
caffeine as kolatin-caffeine. The latter is unstable and is easily 
decomposed on curing or drying the drug. Kolatin resembles pyro- 
catechin in its reactions and appears to neutralize the physiological 
action of caffeine, and hence the dried kola nuts are more active than 
the fresh nuts. 

The red color in dried kola seeds is due to an oxydase similar to 
that which causes the darkening of apples when freshly cut and 
exposed to the air. If the seeds are first heated in boiling water 
for 30 minutes and then dried they do not darken. 

Allied Plants. — The seeds of a number of other plants are said 
to be sometimes admixed with kola, and of these the following may 
be mentioned : Cola Ballayi, a plant growing in the Gaboon, the seeds 
of which contain six cotyledons and are deficient in alkaloids. The 
seeds of Garcinia Cola (Fam. Guttiferae) have been substituted for 
Cola under the name of " Staminate Cola." These seeds do not 
contain caffeine, but two resins which seem to have a physiological 
effect similar to Cola. The seeds of Pentadesma butyraceum, of 
Sierra Leone, have also been used as a substitute for Cola; they 
contain a fat, having a turpentine-like odor, which is used by the 
natives in place of butter, and hence the tree is known as the " Butter 
or Tallow tree." 

Cacao. — Cocoa. — The prepared kernels of the ripe seeds of 

1 For photomicrographs of crystals of caffeine gold chloride, consult Kraemer's 
Applied and Economic Botany, p. 163. 



438 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Theobroma Cacao (Fam. Sterculiacese), a small tree indigenous to 
the countries bordering the Gulf of Mexico and now cultivated in 
many tropical countries. The flowers arise from the older branches 
or trunk developing into a large, ovoid, fleshy fruit which is 10-fur- 
rowed longitudinally, yellow or reddish, and contains five rows of 
seeds, 10 or 12 in each row (Fig. 191). Most of the cacao of the mar- 
ket is obtained from Ecuador (the Guayaquil variety being especially 
valued), Curacao, Mexico, Trinidad, and the Philippine Islands. 
The seeds of the wild plants contain a bitter principle, the quantity 
of which is found to be greatly reduced in the plants when under cul- 




FiG. 191. — Cacao tree (Theobroma Cacao) showing the peculiar habit of the 
fruits in developing on the main axis as well as on the branches. — After 
Baillon. 



tivation. The bitter principles in the raw product are more or less 
destroyed by the process of fermentation, to which the seeds are 
subjected in preparing them for use, which at the same time develops 
the aroma. 

Description. — Irregularly ellipsoidal or ovoid, somewhat flat- 
tened, from 15 to 30 mm. in length; externally reddish-brown to 
dark brown, having the hilum at the broader end, the chalaza at 
the narrow end and which are connected by a raphe which extends 
along the narrow edge and is somewhat branched at the chalazal 
end; seed-coat thin and shell-like, readily separable from the coty- 
ledons; the latter are very fleshy, much folded and connected with 



COCOA 439 

a stout radicle, situated at the hilum portion of the seed; odor 
chocolate-like, and taste slightly bitter. 

In the roasting of the seeds, the seed-coat is more readily detach- 
able and the embryo more easily broken into smaller fragments. 
By a process of winnowing the seed-coat is separated and constitutes 
what is known in commerce as Cocoa Shells. The broken embryo 
constitutes the product known as cocoa nibs or cracked cocoa. 

Plain chocolate or cocoa mass is obtained by grinding the 
broken cotyledons (cocoa nibs) in a mill and separating the pasty 
mass, which is molded into forms that usually weigh a pound. Cocoa 
is the plain chocolate from which a part of the fat (cocoa butter) has 
been removed, the resulting product being then powdered. Sweet 
chocolate is plain chocolate to which sugar and various flavoring 
substances are added. Milk chocolate is a sweet chocolate to 
which " milk powder " is added. 

Powder. — Cacao Preparata or Cocoa. — (Fig. 192). Reddish- 
brown; consisting chiefly of protein grains, oil and starch grains, the 
latter from 0.003 to 0.008 mm. in diameter; fragments with brownish 
or purplish-brown contents (cacao red) ; crystals of Cacao butter in 
small prisms or needles; few fragments of seed-coat consisting of 
hexagonal epidermal cells, and a peculiar mucilage layer of small 
tabular cells and a layer of nearly iso-diametric stone cells about 0.010 
mm. in diameter, having walls which are about 0.004 mm. in thickness. 

Cacao starch grains show a tendency to cohere and on gently 
heating a section in water, after removal of part of the oil with ether 
or chloroform, the compound grains swell into angular, rounded or 
irregular masses which vary from 15 to several hundred microns in 
diameter (Fig. 192, B). The smaller masses thus produced bear a 
close resemblance to the starch grains of corn and wheat. The 
central triangular marking of the mass, which resembles that of a 
corn starch grain, is formed from the adjoining walls of three indi- 
vidual grains. Most of the aggregates, however, swell into rounded 
masses (0.035 mm. in diameter) resembling wheat starch grains, and 
have a clearly defined wall with nearly homogeneous, hyaline con- 
tents. They may be distinguished from wheat starch by the use of 
dilute alkali or acid solutions, which cause an immediate breaking 
down of the masses without the successive changes in structure 
noticed on similar treatment of wheat starch grains. 

Constituents. — The seeds contain 35 to 50 per cent of a fixed oil 
known as cacao butter and official as Oleum Theobromatis ; 15 per 
cent of starch ; 15 per cent of proteins ; 1 to 4 per cent of theobromine ; 
0.07 to 0.36 per cent of caffeine, about 0.5 per cent of sugar, and also 



440 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

a small amount of tannin. The red color of the seed is due to a 
principle known as cacao-red, which is formed by the action of a fer- 
ment on a glucoside. 

Cocoa Shells. — Little or no starch; oil globules; characteristic, 
brownish, adhesive fragments, possessing more or less hexagonal 
epidermal cells; peculiar, small, tabular mucilage cells and a layer 
of nearly isodiametric stone cells. 















o 0.0 c^ 

00 





Fig. 192. — Cacao starch: ^4, starch grains of commercial cacao powder, or choco- 
late, after removal of the oil by means of ether. B, altered starch grains 
of cacao produced by making sections or scrapings of the raw cacao bean, 
removing the oil with ether, mounting on a slide in water and heating at a 
temperature of 70° C, for a few seconds; a, b, c, d, successive stages in the 
alteration of 2-, 3-, and 4-compound grains, the various masses showing 
resemblance in size and form to the single grains of corn, wheat and even 
potato starch as seen in some of the swollen masses (S). 



Adulterants. — All chocolate products may be adulterated with 
any of the cereal starches, those of corn, wheat and rice being usually 
employed ; Wasicky and Wimmer use a method for the detection of 
shells in cocoa based on the difference in appearance between shell 
and nib tissue when viewed through a microscope by ultra-violet 
light.— Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1918, 90, p. 215. 

Literature. — Zwaluwenburg and Schlotterbeck, Proc. A. Ph. A., 
1899, p. 190. 



TEA 



441 



Thea. — Tea. — The prepared leaves and leafbuds of Thea sinensis 
viridis and Thea sinensis Bohea (Fam. Theacese), shrubs or trees with 
alternate, evergreen leaves. The Tea tree is indigenous to eastern 
Asia, and is now extensively cultivated in China, Japan, India, 
Java, Brazil, Sicily, Portugal and France, and to some extent in the 
southern United States (Fig. 193). 

The fresh leaves of Thea do not have the properties which char- 
acterize the commercial article, the aroma and other qualities being 
developed after special treatment. Two general classes .of tea are 




Fig. 193. — A, Tea plantation at Summerville, S. C. — From Bulletin 234, Bureau 
of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agriculture, Washington, D. C. 



found in commerce, these depending on the mode of treatment. 
Those which are rapidly dried by means of artificial heat constitute 
Green Tea. The leaves which are slowly dried, permitting fer- 
mentation to set in, furnish Black Tea. 

Description. — Usually in more or less crumpled masses; when 
entire, nearly elliptical or oblong lanceolate, short petiolate, from 2 
to 10 cm. in length; summit acute; base nearly spatulate, tapering 
into the short petiole, margin serrate or nearly entire; greenish or 
blackish-green, upper surface glabrous, lower surface smooth or hairy ; 



442 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

more or less coriaceous; odor agreeable; aromatic; taste pleasantly 
bitter and astringent. 

Inner Structure. — Tea leaves are distinguished from most other 
leaves by their large colorless stone cells or idioblasts, which frequently 
extend from the upper to the lower surfaces of the leaf. They vary 
in form and size, usually have very irregular walls and are somewhat 
branched. 

Powder. — Dark green; large, elongated, irregular and colorless 
stone cells (idioblasts) ; numerous unicellular, long, thick-walled, non- 
glandular hairs 0.010 mm. in width; rosette aggregates of calcium 
oxalate about 0.010 mm. in diameter; characteristic stomata 0.030 
to 0.060 mm. in diameter, with 3 or 4 accompanying cells. Adulter- 
ants are distinguished by possessing chiefly other forms of calcium 
oxalate crystals and hairs. 

Allied Plant. — Mate or Paraguay tea is distinguished by the 
stomata, which are much larger than the epidermal cells of the lower 
surface; the epidermal cells occurring near the veins are in nearly 
parallel rows and have a striated cuticle; sclerenchymatous fibers 
are associated with the trachea, and calcium oxalate occurs in rosette 
aggregates. 

Adulterants. — Ash leaves (species of Fraxinus) have rather 
characteristic "horned" stomata, due to the increased thickening 
of the cutinous layers at the openings of the stomata; the epider- 
mal cells are very wavy in outline. Camellia leaves contain idio- 
blasts (similar to those in tea leaves) and calcium oxalate crystals, 
but the lower epidermis is thick-walled and more or less papillose. 
Cherry leaves (Prunus avium) have numerous small rosette 
aggregates of calcium oxalate in the lower epidermal cells. Grom- 
well leaves (Lithospermum officinale) have stiff, scythe-shaped 
hairs with centrifugal thickening of cuticle. Maple leaves (Acer 
Negundo) have non-glandular and glandular hairs, the latter with a 
2- to 3-celled stalk and large, unicellular head. Meadow-sweet 
(Spiraea Ulmaria) has unicellular, thin-walled, non-glandular hairs, 
the basal walls of which are truncate ; the glandular hairs have either 
a 3-celled or multicellular stalk and a large, multicellular head. 
Mountain Ash or European Rowan (Sorbus Aucuparia) possesses 
long, thin-walled, non-glandular hairs with rounded bases. Mul- 
berry leaves (Morus alba and M. nigra) have cystoliths in epidermal 
cells, non-glandular and glandular hairs, the latter with a unicellular 
stalk and 5- to 9-celled head. Oak leaves (Quercus pedunculata and 
Q. sessilflora) have 2- to 3-celled, non-glandular hairs and stomata 
only on epidermis of lower surface. Sloe leaves (Prunus spinosa) 



GAMBOGE 443 

have rather characteristic crystal fibers. Strawberry (Fragaria 
vesca) has long, unicellular, non-glandular hairs, the basal portions 
of which have thick walls with simple pores, and glandular hairs 
consisting of a 3-celled stalk and large head, the cells swelling con- 
siderably in hydrated chloral solutions. The leaves of the Willow- 
herb (Epilobium angustifolium) contain numerous raphides and 
the non-glandular hairs are slightly wavy, rather broad and with 
rounded ends. Willow leaves (species of Salix) have small stomata 
(about 0.025 mm. in diameter) with two accompanying cells; the 
hairs are crooked and with thin walls; the calcium oxalate occurs 
in rosette aggregates and monoclinic prisms. Wistaria (Kraunhia 
floribunda) has non-glandular hairs with 2 short basal cells and a 
long, thin-walled pointed cell; stomata only occur in the lower 
epidermis. 

GUTTIFER^, OR GAMBOGE FAMILY 

A family of about 400 species of tropical trees and shrubs. They 
all possess schizogenous resin-canals in both the pith and cortex. 
Resin cavities are also found in the leaves of certain genera. Lysi- 
genous mucilage receptacles are present in Quinia. The tracheae 
are marked by simple pores ; the wood fibers may possess either simple 
or bordered pores; and wood parenchyma occurs in rather broad 
strands in the xylem. Calcium oxalate is usually secreted in the form 
of solitary crystals or rosette aggregates, occasionally it occurs in 
small prismatic crystals, as in Garcinia. The stomata are especially 
characterized in having the subsidiary cells parallel to the pore. 
Non-glandular hairs are either unicellular or uniseriate. Glandular 
hairs are wanting. 

Cambogia. — Gamboge. — A gum-resin obtained from Garcinia 
Hanburyi (Fam. Guttiferse), a tree found growing on the Malabar 
coast and in Travancore. Spiral incisions are made in the bark of 
the trees, and the gum-resin which exudes is collected in hollow bam- 
boo stems; it is then allowed to dry slowly, after which the bamboo is 
removed. It is chiefly exported by way of Singapore and is known 
commercially as pipe gamboge. 

Description. — In cylindrical pieces, frequently hollow in the 
center, of variable length, 2 to 5 cm. in diameter; externally grayish- 
orange brown, longitudinally striate, due to the ridges on the inner 
surface of the bamboo canes in which they have been dried; hard; 
fracture short, the fractured surface being orange-red, waxy and some- 
what porous; inodorous; taste very acrid. 



444 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

The powder is bright yellow, sternutatory, and contains few 
or no starch grains; not more than 25 per cent should be insolu- 
ble in alcohol. The resin is soluble in solutions of the alkalies, 
with the production of an orange-red color. 

Constituents. — Gum allied to arabin, 15 to 20 per cent; a resin 
known as cambogic acid, from 65 to 75 per cent; a volatile oil; ash, 
1 to 3 per cent. 

Cake Gamboge is collected in Saigon and Cochin from the same 
plant that yields pipe gamboge. The product is, however, collected 
in leaves and then allowed to dry. It occurs in irregular orange-red 
masses, weighing 1 to 2 K., and is not so brittle as pipe gamboge, 
but is less uniform in composition and may contain impurities. 

Allied Plants. — A drastic gum-resin is also obtained from Garcinia 
Morella and other members of the Guttiferse, of India and Malaya, 
as G. collina, of New Caledonia; Vismia laccifera, of Brazil; Clusia 
rosea, of the West Indies and South America, and Clusia macrocarpa, 
of Guiana. Gamboge of a poor quality is obtained from Arasina 
Gurgi, of India. 

Adulterants. — Gamboge is sometimes adulterated with vegetable 
fragments, inorganic substances, as sand, etc., and wheat or rice 
flour, which the powdered drug may contain to the extent of nearly 
50 per cent. 

CISTACE^I, OR ROCKROSE FAMILY 

A family of low shrubs and herbs, of which there are about 150 
species. They are found chiefly in the northern countries of both 
hemispheres. They possess simple leaves, regular and perfect 
flowers, capsular fruits, and are especially characterized by their 
thick-walled, unicellular hairs, which are frequently united, forming 
stellate groups (Fig. 194). The glandular hairs are always uniseriate 
(Fig. 194). As pointed out by Holm the pericycle is a continuous ring 
including both sclereids and stereids, the former being in the nature 
of stone cells and the latter being in the nature of lignified scleren- 
chymatous fibers. The trachea? are provided with simple pores and 
possess small lumina; the wood fibers have bordered pores; and the 
medullary rays are narrow. Calcium oxalate is secreted in the form 
of rosette aggregates. 

Helianthemum. — Frostweed, Frost-wort. — The over-ground 
plant of Helianthemum canadense (Fam. Cistacese) a low shrub 
growing in dry, sandy soil from Massachusetts to North Carolina. 
The stem portions, with leaves and flowers, are collected in summer 
and carefully dried. 



FROSTWEED 



445 




Fig. 194. — Helianthemum canadense: The plant produces two kinds of flowers, 
the normal or ephemeral, being terminal and having large yellow petals 
(A); and others that are very small, axillary and apetalous (B). C, one of 
the lanceolate leaves. D, a pistil from one of the normal flowers. E, an 
open capsule developed from one of the normal flowers and enclosing a 
number of small seeds. F, a capsule from one of the apetalous flowers. 
G, section through one of the small seeds showing the curved embryo. H, 
transverse section of leaf: ep, epidermal cells of ventral surface; P, palisade 
cells; M, loose mesophyll; D, epidermal cells from the lower or dorsal sur- 
face. I, stellate hairs which are abundant on the dorsal surface of the leaf 
and occur to some extent also on the ventral surface. K, one of the long- 
stalked glandular hairs which are abundant on the dorsal surface of the scale- 



446 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Description.— Stems from 10 to 50 cm. in length, nearly cylindrical, 
from 1 to 2 mm. in diameter, purplish-brown and pubescent or puber- 
ulent. Leaves short-petiolate, lanceolate or oblanceolate, entire, 
with distinctly revolute margins, summit acute, somewhat mucronate- 
tipped, upper surface dark green and rough pubescent, lower surface 
light greenish-brown and canescent; petaliferous flowers, when fresh 
bright yellow, on drying yellowish-brown and consisting of 5 sepals, 
an equal number of large petals, numerous stamens and a unilocular 
ovary, the latter becoming in fruit an ovoid capsule, which is about 
5 mm. in length and contains numerous, small blackish-brown seeds, 
which are somewhat triangular in section and covered with small, 
rounded, reddish-brown papillae; apetalous flowers in axillary clusters 
nearly sessile, petals about 5 mm. in length, stamens 4 in number, the 
capsule about 3 mm. in length, enclosing from 6 to 10 small blackish- 
brown papillose seeds ; odor aromatic ; taste astringent and bitter. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 194. 

Constituents. — A small quantity of volatile oil; 10 per cent of 
tannic acid; a bitter principle which forms white crystals; and 
probably also a glucoside. The presence of small crystals of ice at 
the base of the stem in autumn is due to the deposition of globules of 
water on the stellate hairs which freeze, and hence the popular name 
frost-weed is given to the plant. 

BIXACE^, OR ANNATTO FAMILY 

These are shrubs or trees found in the Tropics, and are of interest, 
chiefly on account of the seeds of Bixa Orellana, which furnish the 
coloring matter known as annatto (Orlean, Arnotta). The plant is 
found in tropical America and also in Polynesia and Madagascar. 
The seeds are covered with a fleshy arillus from which the coloring 
matter is prepared by means of water. The insoluble matter is col- 
lected, made into cakes and chiefly used for dyeing and coloring. 
Annatto contains a red crystalline principle, bixin, a yellow coloring 
principle, orellin, and an ethereal oil. The root of this plant also 
contains some coloring matter. 

Taraktogenos Kurzii. — Chaulmoogra Seeds. — The seeds of 
Taraktogenos kurzii (Fam. Bixacese), a native of Burma. The seeds 
on expression yield a fatty oil, commonly known as chaulmoogra oil. 

like leaves. L, a short-stalked glandular hair. M, a transverse section 
through a stoma, partly covered with a stellate hair. N, a small mestome 
strand from the leaf showing a strand of leptome (L), surrounded by a sheath 
(P) of thin-walled parenchyma. — After Holm, Merck's Report, 1912, p. 38. 



CANELLA 447 

Chemical analysis has shown it to consist to a large extent of the 
glyceryl esters of optically active acids. The aoid present in the 
largest proportion has been designated as chaulmoogric acid; it also 
contains hydnocarpic acid. — Power, Jour. Chem. Soc, 1904, p. 838; 
1907, p. 557; Shattopadhyay, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1915, 473; 
Power Ibid., p. 493. 

WINTERANACE^, (CANELLACE^J), OR CANELLA FAMILY 

A small family of 4 genera, comprising in all about 8 species. 
They are mostly tropical or sub-tropical trees, having alternate 
evergreen leaves, golden-yellow flowers, and fleshy berry-like fruits. 
The phelloderm is characteristic in that the inner walls of the cells 
are strongly lignified. The pericycle does not contain any scleren- 
chymatous tissues. The secretory cells are distributed throughout 
the parenchyma of stems, roots and leaves. These cells are either 
spheroidal or ellipsoidal, possessing suberized walls, and contain a 
yellowish oily content. The tracheae are marked by bordered pores 
and scaliform perforations; the wood fibers possess bordered pores;- 
and the medullary rays usually become broader as they extend 
into the cortex. Calcium oxalate is secreted in the form of rosette 
aggregates or solitary crystals. Both glandular and non-glandular 
hairs are apparently wanting. 

Canella. — Canell^e Cortex, Cortex Canell^e, Alb.e, Ca- 
nella Bark, White Bark or White Cinnamon. — The bark of 
Winterana Canella (Canella alba), a small, evergreen tree belong- 
ing to the Winteranacese and indigenous to the West Indies and 
Florida. When the drug is collected the bark is divested of its very 
light grayish cork, the inner layer of periderm, consisting of stone 
cells, remaining. Most of the commercial supplies are obtained 
from New Providence, one of the Bahama Islands. 

Description. — In quills or transversely curved pieces, from 1 to 3 
cm. in length, 1 to 4 cm. in breadth, and 1.5 to 5 mm. in thickness; 
outer surface light yellowish-brown to orange-brown, somewhat scaly, 
more or less reticulate, with transverse fissures and occasional patches 
of silvery-gray cork; inner surface yellowish-white, finely striate; 
fracture short, granular, outer bark with numerous yellowish-secre- 
tion cells, inner bark with wavy medullary rays; odor cinnamon-like 
taste aromatic, pungent, and somewhat bitter. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 195. 

Powder. — Light yellowish-brown or light reddish-brown; cal- 
cium oxalate in rosette aggregates, from 0.020 to 0.050 mm. in 



448 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



diameter; starch grains simple or 2- to 3-compound, the individual 
grains being spheroidal or polygonal, from 0.005 to 0.020 mm. in 
diameter and frequently with a central circular point of origin of 



>cor 




Fiq 



195.-Canella: Transverse section of bark showing tissues o outer bark 
(su): middle bark or cortical region (cor); and inner bark (ph). K , cork 
cells; ph, inner layer of periderm showing the cells with their strong y thick- 
ened, distinctly lamented, porous and lignified inner walls; o oil cells with a 
yellowish oily content; s, collapsed cells of sieve; Kr, rosette aggregates o 
calcium oxalate; m, medullary rays, each cell having a rosette aggregate of 
calcium oxalate.— After Tschirch. 

growth; numerous stone cells of periderm, about 0.075 mm. in 
diameter, the inner walls of which are considerably thickened, 



DAMIANA 449 

and with branching pores; numerous large oil cells with suberized 
walls. 

Constituents. — Canella bark contains mannitol, resin and 0.5 to 
1.28 per cent, of a volatile oil containing eugenol, cineol, cary- 
ophyllene and pinene. 

Adulterants. — The barks of one or more species of Cinnamo- 
dendron of tropical America are sometimes substituted for Canella 
bark, but they are distinguished by containing tannin, which con- 
stituent is not found in Canella. 



TURNERACEiE, OR DAMIANA FAMILY 

A small family of tropical plants, of which there are about 100 
species, distinguished among other characteristics by the fact that 
they contain tannin cells in the primary cortex, which are frequently 
developed in the form of idioblasts. In the pericycle occur isolated 
groups of bast fibers. The tracheae are marked with simple pores or 
scalariform thickenings, except when in contact with the parenchyma, 
when the dividing walls possess bordered pores. In the wood fibers 
bordered pores are usually present, although simple perforations may 
occur. Glandular and non-glandular hairs of a number of types are 
developed. Large nectarial glands occur on the margin and base of 
the leaves of Turnova and other genera. 

Damiana. — Folia Damianae, Damiana Leaves. — The leaves 
and flowering tops of Turnera aphrodisiaca and T. diffusa (Fam. 
Turneracese) , small shrubs indigenous to Brazil, the West Indies, 
Mexico and California (Fig. 196). The drug is chiefly imported from 
La Paz, Bolivia. 

T. Aphrodisiaca. — Leaves elliptical-ovate to obovate, from 1 to 3 
cm. in length, and 4 to 10 mm. in breadth; short petiolate, summit 
acute, base spatulate, margin sharply dentate, upper surface pale 
green, smooth or somewhat glabrous, lower surface glabrous, having 
short glandular hairs ; odor aromatic ; taste somewhat bitter and acrid. 

T. Diffusa. — The leaves closely resemble those of T. aphro- 
disiaca, but are smaller, being about one-half their size, and are 
more hairy, being densely tomentose on the lower surface. 

The stems, which are present in both species, vary from 2 to 10 
cm. in length, and from 0.5 to 2 mm. in thickness; light-reddish 
brown or dark brown, smaller twigs being pubescent, the older marked 
by lenticular depressions due to cork formation; fracture short, 
fibrous; bark and pith small, wood porous, light yellow and resinous. 



450 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



The flowers, which are sometimes intermixed with the drug, con- 
sist of a 'cylindrical calyx tube surmounted by 5 small teeth; petals 
oblong or obovate, adnate with the calyx tube; stamens 5, united 
with the corolla; ovary superior, unilocular, having 3 long styles. 
Fruit a loculicidally dehiscent capsule, having a number of ovoid or 




, 196. — Turnera aphrodisiaca: A, portion of the plant showing the small 
serrate leaves. B, portion of twig showing the flower bud. C and D, the 
flowers, the latter being in longitudinal section. E, ovary with three long 
styles. F, longitudinal section through the ovary showing a number of the 
ovules. G, the mature ovoid fruit. H, a crescent-shaped, reticulate seed, 
having a small, thin, membranous arillus. K, stoma with subsidiary cells 
parallel to the pore. L, transverse section through the leaf, showing upper 
epidermis (e); lower epidermis (d), with 2 glandular hairs (g); palisade cells 
(P); and tracheae (T). J, diagrammatic section of a flower of T. ulmifolia. — 
B and J after Urban; the remainder after Gilg. 



crescent-shaped reticulate seeds, with a thin, yellowish-white, mem- 
branous aril near the micropyle. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 196. 



PASSION FLOWER 451 

Powder. — Yellowish-green; non-glandular hairs numerous, from 
0.500 to 0.800 mm. in length and from 0.020 to 0.030 mm. in width, 
having at the base small lumina and often being curved, so that the 
major portion of the hair lies somewhat parallel to the surface of the 
stem or leaf; fragments of the epidermis from the stems composed of 
somewhat rectangular cells attaining a length of 0.070 mm. and a 
few broadly elliptical stomata, about 0.030 mm. in length; sub- 
epidermal cells from the stems resembling those of the epidermis in 
shape but with lignified walls ; tracheae, spiral attaining a width about 
0.020 mm., and having bordered pores; tracheids from stems and 
strongl} T lignified thick-walled sclerenchyma, few; lignified pith 
parenchyma with large simple pores; numerous fragments consisting 
of the epidermal cells and mesophyll of the leaf, the former with 
somewhat wavy vertical walls and associated with stomata attaining 
a length of 0.024 mm., the cells usually containing green plastids; 
numerous crystals of calcium oxalate mostly in rosette aggregates 
from 0.015 to 0.030 mm. in diameter, occasionally in prisms; few 
simple starch grains from the stem about 0.005 mm. in diameter. — 
(Newcomb.) 

Constituents. — Volatile oil from 0.2 to 0.9 per cent; a non- 
glucosidal bitter principle, 7 per cent; a hard brown resin, 6.39 per 
cent; a mixture of a soft resin and chlorophyll, 8 per cent; tannic 
acid, 3.4 per cent; starch, 6 per cent; extractive, 10 per cent; a 
gummy substance, 13.5 per cent; and protein substances, nearly 
15 per cent. Ash not more than 10 per cent. 

PASSIFLORACE.E, OR PASSION-FLOWER FAMILY 

The plants are mostly herbaceous or woody vines, and repre- 
sented by about 325 species. They are most abundant in South 
America, a few of the species of Passiflora, however, being quite 
common in the southern United States. Nearly all of the plants 
have elongated tannin sacs and intercellular secretory canals, with 
a brownish content. The pericycle consists either of isolated groups 
of bast fibers or a composite and continuous ring of sclerenchyma. 
The tracheae usually are marked by simple pores, except in the primary 
wood, when they possess scalariform thickenings. The wood fibers 
have both simple and bordered pores. Calcium oxalate is secreted 
in the form of solitary crystals or rosette aggregates. Non-glan- 
dular hairs are either unicellular or uniseriate, the former usually 
having a more or less hooked summit. Glandular hairs are usually 
of a woolly or shaggy type. Large nectarial glands are common to 



452 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY , 

a number of the species. In the leaves several well-marked charac- 
teristics occur: (a) the epidermal layer is frequently modified to 
mucilage and occasionally is papillose; (b) the cells of the mesophyll 
may contain spicular cells or crystal idioblasts. 

Passiflora. — Wild Passion Flower or Passion Vine. — The 
leaves and flowering tops of Passiflora incarnata (Fam. Passifloraceae), 
a perennial climbing herb, producing axillary tendrils, having alternate 
palmately lobed leaves and large showy flowers, which are supposed 
to typify the passion of Jesus and hence the popular name of these 
plants as given to them by the early Spanish settlers. The plants 
are indigenous to the southern United States, being found as far 
west as Missouri and Texas. They produce an abundance of flowers 
from May to July, and the drug is collected usually after some of the 
berry-like fruits have developed, being carefully dried and preserved. 

Description. — Stems nearly cylindrical, yellowish- to purplish- 
brown, longitudinally striate, somewhat glabrous or slightly pubes- 
cent, internally with a thin bark, porous wood and hollow pith. 
Leaves more or less broken, when entire, 3- to 5-cleft, long petiolate, 
the lobes lanceolate-ovate, summit acute, margin serrate; light 
greenish-brown to dark purplish-brown, somewhat coriaceous, and 
either glabrous or slightly pubescent; petioles somewhat flattened, 
from 1 to 6 cm. in length, light or purplish-brown, pubescent, and 
having 2 large nectarial glands in the upper portion, these being 
somewhat ellipsoidal from 1 to 2 mm. in length and of a blackish color. 
Flowers solitary, on long peduncles, from 2 to 5 cm. in breadth, 
the 5 sepals slightly united at the base and having at the crown several 
rows of purplish filaments, known as the corona; petals 4 to 5, inserted 
on the calyx and of a yellowish-white color; stamens 5, monadel- 
phous; ovary superior, unilocular, becoming in fruit a berry, from 4 
to 5 cm. in length, having 3 or 4 parietal placentae, and numerous 
ovoid, flattened seeds having a yellowish or brown aril. The drug 
has a slight odor and a somewhat acrid taste. 

Constituents. — Nothing is known in regard to the constituents 
of Passiflora; it is said, however, to possess traces of an alkaloid. 

Allied Drugs. — The rhizome and roots of Passiflora incarnata 
and P. lutea are sometimes used in medicine. They occur in cylin- 
drical pieces from 3 to 6 mm. in diameter, light yellowish-brown and 
finely striate. The leaves alone are sometimes collected and a prep- 
aration sometimes is made from the freshly expressed juice of the 
plant. 



PAPAW 453 

CARICACEJE, OR PAPAW FAMILY 

A family composed of two genera of latex-containing trees, 
growing in tropical America, the best known of which is the genus 
Carica. The latex occurs as a finely granular protoplasmic-like sub- 
stance, which contains the peptonizing ferment papain, in articulated 
laticiferous tubes, which occur in the pith, cortex and xylem of roots 
and stems and are associated with the vascular bundles in leaves, 
even penetrating into the mesophyll. Guignard has found, in cer- 
tain tannin and laticiferous cells, a ferment resembling my rosin and a 
glucoside agreeing with sinigrin, which occurs in black mustard seeds. 
In many of the parenchyma cells, Ruger has observed large granules 
of a spheroidal or irregular shape and strongly refractive, which are 
supposed to be one of the aldehydes. The pericycle is composed of 
isolated groups of bast fibers. The tracheae are marked by simple 
pores or reticulate and scalariform thickenings. The medullary rays 
and wood fibers are replaced apparently with parenchyma. 

Carica. — Papaw, Pawpaw or Papaya. — The desiccated latex 
of the fruit of Carica Papaya (Fam. Caricacese), furnishes a com- 
mercial article, which contains one or more proteolytic ferments. 
The seeds and leaves of this plant are also used to some extent in 
medicine. 

The Papaw is a shrub (Fig. 197), indigenous to tropical America, 
also occurring in southern Florida, and has become naturalized in 
most of the tropical countries of the Old World. The trunks may 
attain a height of 4 or 5 M. and a thickness of 15 cm. The trunk 
persists for a few years and is replaced by new shoots, which develop 
from a more or less fleshy rootstock. The leaves are long petiolate, 
yellowish-green, from 45 to 60 cm. in diameter, consisting of from 5 to 
7 lobes, the latter being more or less deeply divided into nearly entire 
lateral lobes. The veins and petioles are yellow or orange colored, 
the latter being hollow and frequently 1 mm. in length; the flowers are 
yellow, monoecious and are produced continuously throughout the 
year. The staminate flowers are fragrant, contain large quantities 
of nectar, and are borne in long racemose cymes. The pistillate 
flowers are about 2.5 cm. in length and occur 1 to 3, in short-stalked 
cymes. The fruits are formed in clusters at the base of the leaf 
stalks. They are ovoid or ellipsoidal, obtusely short pointed, and 
vary in color from yellowish-green to bright orange. The fruits of 
the plants of southern Florida are usually not more than 10 cm. in 
length. The fruits of tropical plants may attain a length of 30 cm. 
and weigh 4 or 5 K. The epicarp is thick, and adheres to the orange- 



454 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



colored, fleshy sarcocarp, which surrounds the central cavity contain- 
ing a mass of nearly black seeds. The latter are spheroidal, and have 
an aromatic, pungent taste. 




Fig. 197. — Papaw (Carica Papaya) : A large shrub growing in Cuba and showing 
the large long-pet iolate, deeply lobed leaves and the clusters of fruits beneath 
them. — After Alacan. 



Constituents. — The alkaloid, carpaine, a cardiac tonic, occurs 
in the young leaves to the extent of 0.25 per cent; in older leaves 
it is found to the extent of about 0.1 per cent. It is only found in 
traces in the fruits, seeds and stems of the plant. The latex of 



NIGHT-BLOOMING CEREUS 455 

the nearly full-grown green fruits and the leaves contain the pro- 
teolytic ferment, Papain, which occurs to the extent of 5.3 per cent. 
In addition to the proteolytic ferment, the latex of the papaw con- 
tains 4 other ferments: a coagulating, rennet-like ferment, which 
acts upon the casein of milk; an amylolytic ferment, having the 
power to digest starch ; a clotting ferment similar to pectase ; and a 
ferment possessing feeble powers of action upon fats. 
Literature. — Kilmer, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1901, p. 272. 



CACTACEJE, OR CACTUS FAMILY 

A remarkable family of about 100 species of succulent plants, 
growing largely in the arid regions of Mexico, Brazil and other 
parts of America. They usually possess thick, fleshy stems, the 
structure of which is adapted to a desert climate, the foliage leaves 
being modified to thorns. Mucilage cells and lysigenous canals are 
common to all of the plants of this family. In addition there are 
crystal cells and laticiferous canals. Calcium oxalate is excreted in 
enormous quantities, sometimes being present to the extent of 85 
per cent of the ash of the plant. It occurs in the form of large rosette 
aggregates, raphides, octahedra, and tetragonal and monoclinic 
prisms. Sometimes they occur as sphsero-crystals and may resemble 
half-compound starch grains in the arrangement of their needle- 
like crystals. Occasionally the crystals are contained in idioblasts. 
In alcoholic material sphsero-aggregates may crystallize out in some 
of the cells. In Epiphyllum curiously shaped protein bodies are 
distributed. The guard cells of the stomata are accompanied on 
both sides by one or more subsidiary cells parallel to the pore. The 
thorns are variously interpreted, as being either foliar organs, emer- 
gencies, i.e., multicellular hairs derived from both the epidermal and 
hypodermal layers, or transitions between leaf -prickles and trichome- 
prickles. The tracheae possess either simple pores or spiral thicken- 
ings; the wood fibers usually have simple pores; and the medullary 
ray cells may become lignified. In addition, tracheid-like parenchy- 
matous cells are found in the wood of Opuntia and other genera. 

Cactus Grandiflorus, Herba Cacti Grandiflori, Night- 
blooming Cereus. — Cactus. — The stems and flowers of Cereus 
(Cactus) grandiflorus (Fam. Cactacese), a perennial, herbaceous or 
shrub-like plant, having thick succulent stems and producing large, 
fragrant flowers, which expand at night, lasting but a few hours. 
The plant is indigenous to Mexico, Central America and the West 



456 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Indies, and is extensively cultivated as a house plant. The fresh 
stems and flowers only are employed in medicine (Fig. 198). 

Description.— Stems cylindrical, 5- to 7-angled, branching; usually 
in pieces from 10 to 15 cm. in length and from 1 to 3 cm. in thickness; 
externally of a grass-green color and marked by alternate clusters of 
6 to 8 prickly thorns, from 1 to 2 mm. in length; internally bright 




Fig. 198. — Cactus grandiflorus in burlap bags of about 150 lbs. Shipped from 
northern Mexico, in a fresh condition. — After Moser. 



green, having a thick cortex with large mucilage cells and a small 
central woody cylinder. Occasionally producing at the nodes cylin- 
drical, gradually tapering, irregularly curved, light grayish-brown 
roots from 5 to 20 cm. in length and 1 to 2 mm. in thickness. 

The flowers are from 15 to 20 cm. in diameter, subtended by 
a cylindrical stalk from 12 to 18 cm. in length and about 1 cm. 
in diameter; the latter consists of an ellipsoidal and nearly solid 



MESCAL 457 

ovary at the basal portion, attaining a length of 4 cm. and sur- 
mounted by a long, hollow calyx tube upon which are borne the 
numerous sepals in spiral series, varying from scale-like to long 
linear-lanceolate leaves; corolla of 5 spreading, elliptical, delicate 
petals about 8 cm. in length and 3 cm. in width, summit acute, base 
somewhat contracted ; stamens numerous in 2 series, the one inserted 
upon the throat of the corolla tube forming a fring and the other in a 
somewhat ascending series from 5 to 8 mm. inside the tube; style 
cylindrical, orange-brown, from 15 to 19 cm. in length, about 2 mm. 
in diameter and surmounted by a 15-rayed stigma, consisting of 
narrow, thread-like, papillose filaments, being about 2 cm. in length. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 199. 

Constituents. — A glucoside, which is a cardiac stimulant; one or 
more resinous substances, and possibly also an alkaloid. 

Mescal Buttons (Anhalonium) are the dried tops of several spe- 
cies of Lophophora growing in northern Mexico. The main axis of 
the plant is under the ground and from which arise a number of aerial 
shoots, which are more or less button-shaped or disk-like, being about 
20 to 50 mm. in diameter. Iri the center of the disk occur tufts of 
hairs which vary in the different species, and among which are usually 
found one or more pinkish flowers. The drug has been used like 
Cactus grandiflorus, and contains several alkaloids, namely, anha- 
lonine (similar to pellotine), mescaline, anhalonidine and lopho- 
phorine. Alkaloidal principles are also found in other members of 
the Cactacese. 

THYMEL^ACEiE, OR MEZEREON FAMILY 

A family of about 425 shrubs and trees, most abundant in Australia 
and South Africa, a few of the genera, however, being found in the 
United States. The plants have simple, deciduous or evergreen 
leaves; small, mostly perfect flowers; and the fruits are usually 
berry-like drupes. All of the plants are characterized by having in 
the cortex numerous groups of bast fibers. An intraxylary phloem, 
accompanied by bast fibers, occurs in the stem and is also present 
in the fibrovascular bundles of the petioles and leaves. The tracheae 
possess simple pores; the wood fibers are marked by bordered pores; 
and the medullary rays are narrow. Calcium oxalate is secreted in 
the form of ordinary crystals, styloids, rosette aggregates and micro- 
crystals. The plants do not possess any internal secretory cells or 
glandular hairs. The non-glandular hairs are usually unicellular. 
In the leaves there is a mucilaginous metamorphosis of the epidermal 



458 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

A 




Fig. 199. — Cactus: A, transverse section of stem; E, papillose epidermis; Hy, 
hypodermis; P, cortical parenchyma containing chloroplasts (Chi); Ca, 
solitary crystals of calcium oxalate from 0.015 to 0.400 mm. in length; Mu, 
mucilage cells. B, transverse section of the fibrovascular bundles: Bf, bast 
fibers; M, broad medullary rays, the cells containing starch; L, leptone; 
Cam, cambium layer; T, tracheae; IF, wood fibers; P, starch-bearing paren- 
chyma (S), the grains from 0.003 to 0.010 mm. in diameter; Mu, mucilage 
cell. C, longitudinal section of xylem portion of bundle: M, parenchyma- 
tous cells containing starch (S); Ts, tracheee with large simple pores; Tr, 
reticulate tracheae ; W, wood fibers. D, solitary crystals of calcium oxalate. — 
Drawing by Haase. 



MEZEREON 459 

cells, the latter often becoming also papillose. The stomata usually 
occur only upon the upper or ventral surface of the leaf and are 
frequently enclosed in receptacles formed by the papillose elevations 
of the neighboring cells. 

Mezereum. — Mezereon Bark. — The dried bark of Daphne 
Mezereum, D. Gnidium and D. Laureola (Fam. Thymelseacese), 
indigenous to Europe and Asia, and naturalized in New England 
and Canada. The bark is collected in early spring; it is dried 
and frequently made up into small bundles, the commercial 
supplies being obtained from Thuringia, southern France and 
Algeria. 

Description. — In flexible, double quills or somewhat flattened 
strips, from 10 to 90 cm. in length, 3 to 20 mm. in breadth and from 
0.3 to 1 mm. in thickness; outer surface yellowish- or olive-brown 
(D. Mezereum) or purplish-brown (D. Gnidium) or purplish-gray 
(D. Laureola), smooth, numerous lenticels, giving a transversely 
striated appearance and occasionally with numerous circular brown- 
ish-black apothecia; inner surface yellowish-white, satiny lustrous, 
finely striate; fracture tough, fibrous, the inner bark lamellated; 
outer corky layer easily separable from the middle bark, which varies 
from light green to olive-brown, inner bark with small groups of 
whitish bast fibers; odor very slight; taste at first like green bark, 
becoming gradually pungent in the throat and extending to the rest 
of the mouth with increasing effect. 

Inner Structure. — Periderm consisting of a broad band of cork, 
the outer cells being compressed and with yellowish-brown walls 
and the inner more or less tabular with nearly colorless walls ; a hypo- 
dermis of 3 to 5 rows of collenchymatous cells, containing chloro- 
plastids or a yellowish-green resinous substance; an inner bark con- 
sisting mostly of nearly colorless bast fibers occurring in loosely united 
groups and with thin, non-lignified, colorless walls; medullary rays 
few, uniseriate, and filled with somewhat spheroidal starch grains, 
from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. in diameter. 

Powder. — Light yellowish- or grayish-brown, sternutatory; bast 
fibers, numerous from 0.400 to 3 mm. in length and about 0.015 mm. 
wide, frequently more or less uneven or irregularly bent and con- 
siderably attenuated at the ends the walls being from 0.001 to 0.005 
mm. in thickness, colorless, non-lignified and free from pores; frag- 
ments of yellowish-brown cork cells and cells of medullary rays con- 
taining starch; starch grains relatively few, mostly spheroidal or 
ellipsoidal and varying from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. in diameter, occa- 
sionally 2- to 4-compound. 



460 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Constituents. — An acrid resin known as mezerein; a crystalline, 
bitter glucoside daphnin (isomeric with sesculin) occurring in greatest 
amount in the stem bark during the flowering and fruiting period; 
volatile and fixed oils; malic acid; several sugars; and starch. 

Allied Drugs. — The berry-like fruits of Daphne Mezereum and 
D. Gnidium are sub-globular, dark brown or brownish-black, about 
5 mm. in diameter, each with a black seed. The fruits are acrid and 
pungent and contain 0.38 per cent of coccogonin, a principle which 
on sublimation gives off an odor of coumarin; 0.22 per cent of an 
acrid resin; and 31 per cent of a fixed oil, which absorbs oxygen on 
exposure to air and is in the nature of a drying oil. 

The barks of a number of other plants of this family are used 
like that of Mezereum, as Daphnopsis Schwartzii of the West Indies, 
Lasiosiphon eriocephalus of India and Ceylon, and various species 
of Stellera, Struthiola and Thymelaea. 

Lasiosiphon Meissnerianus (Fam. Thymelseacese), a shrub 
indigenous to South Africa, where the root is stated to be used as 
a cure for snake-bite. The chief constituent of the root is an amor- 
phous, acrid resin, from which only a phytosterol, C27H46O, and a 
mixture of fatty acids could be obtained. — Power, Amer. Jour. 
Pharm., 1911, p. 49. 

PUNICACEiE, OF POMEGRANATE FAMILY 

A small family represented by a single genus, Punica, and of 
which there are two species. By some authors the plants are included 
with the Lythraceae with which it has a number of morphological 
points in common. In the pericycle there are isolated groups of bast 
fibers, beneath which the cork develops. In the primary cortex 
occur large stone cells, either single or in small groups. The fibro- 
vascular bundles are bi-collateral ; bast fibers are wanting in the cor- 
tex; the tracheae and wood fibers possess simple pores; and calcium 
oxalate is secreted in the form of rosette aggregates. 

Granatum. — Pomegranate Bark. — The dried bark of the root 
and stem of Punica Granatum (Fam. Punicacese), a shrub indigenous 
to northwestern India, and cultivated in the sub-tropical regions 
throughout the world. The bark of the root is preferred to that of 
the stem, and by some the drug obtained from wild plants is also 
preferred. The bark deteriorates with age and should not be used 
after it is a year or two old. 

Stem Bark. — Usually in transversely curved pieces, occasionally 
in single quills, 2 to 8 cm. in length, 5 to 20 mm. in diameter, bark 



POMEGRANATE 461 

0.5 to 2 mm. in thickness; outer surface yellowish brown, with gray- 
ish patches of foliaceous lichens, brownish-black apothecia and small 
lenticels, longitudinally wrinkled; inner surface light yellow or yel- 
lowish-brown, finely striate, smooth; fracture "short, even, phello- 
derm layer dark green, inner bark light brown, somewhat checkered; 
odor slight; taste astringent. 

Root Bark. — Dark brown, with slight longitudinal patches 
and scales of cork, green phelloderm layer wanting, medullary 
rays extending nearly to the outer surface. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 200. 

Powder. — Yellowish-brown to dark greenish-brown; calcium 
oxalate crystals numerous, chiefly in rosette aggregates, also in 
rhombohedra, from 0.010 to 0.018 mm. in diameter; starch grains 
numerous, from 0.002 to 0.010 mm. in diameter; spheroidal, ellip- 
soidal, bi-convex, polyhedral, or irregular, and single or compound; 
fragments of whitish cork with strongly lignified walls; stone cells 
mostly single, occasionally in small groups, the individual cells 0.050 
to 0.180 mm. in length, the walls being very thick and strongly 
lamellated; occasional fragments of wood with long slightly lignified 
wood fibers associated with tracheae possessing simple pores; tannin 
cells having an irregular yellowish-brown amorphous content, pro- 
ducing a deep blue color with solutions of ferric salts; and occasional 
parenchymatous cells with marked centripetal thickenings; the pow- 
der of the root bark is free from chloroplastids ; the cork cells are more 
numerous and the sclerenchymatous cells more irregular in shape. 

Constituents. — Four alkaloids to the extent of 1 to 3 per cent in 
the root bark, but only about half as much in the stem bark. The 
most important of these alkaloids is pelletierine, the tannate of which 
is largely used in medicine. Pelletierine (punicine) is a colorless, 
volatile, liquid alkaloid, which readily absorbs oxygen and becomes 
dark on exposure to air. Its sulphate is lsevo-rotatory. Isopelle- 
tierine (isomeric with pelletierine) is optically inactive and forms an 
amorphous sulphate. Methylpelletierine somewhat resembles pelle- 
tierine, but its hydrochloride is dextro-rotatory. Pseudopelletierine 
(methylgranatonine) occurs in prisms, is optically inactive, and 
resembles, in its reactions and decomposition products, tropinone. 
The latter is formed from tropine, a compound which results on the 
decomposition of most of the solanaceous alkaloids. Granatum also 
contains 20 to 22 per cent of a mixture of tannins, one of which yields 
gallic acid and the other ellagic acid. A yellow coloring principle, 
considerable starch and calcium oxalate are also present in the 
drug. 



462 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



.-0 i 




Fig. 200. — Transverse section of granatum: K, corky layer composed of thin- 
walled cork cells (/c 1 ) and thick-walled cork cells (k) only the inner walls (v) 
of which are thickened; Pd, phelloderm cells; pr, a few parenchyma cells 
of trie primary cortex; Sk, stone cells with thick, lamellated walls and 
fine branching pores; 0, rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate; 1 , mono- 
clinic prisms of calcium oxalate; m', medullary rays; s, sieve cells; s, sieve 
cells; p, parenchyma cells; c, cambium. — After Meyer. 



EUCALYPTUS 463 

Allied Drugs. — The rind of the fruit of Punica Granatum, known 
as pomegranate rind, occurs in irregularly curved yellowish-brown 
fragments about 2 mm. in thickness. It contains 23.8 to 25 per cent 
of a tannin which is colored bluish-black with solutions of ferric salts. 

MYRTACE^E, OR MYRTLE FAMILY 

A family of about 2000 shrubs and trees, chiefly indigenous to 
Australia and tropical America.' The plants yield a large number 
of economic products and some, as the species of Eucalyptus, are 
to be classed among the leading timber trees of the world. The 
leaves are simple, the flowers are perfect, and the fruits are either 
fleshy and berry-like, or capsular. In certain species of Eucalyp- 
tus the leaves are both horizontal and vertical, and exhibit a dimor- 
phic structure, the former being bifacial and the latter centric. In 
the leaves of Eucalyptus Globulus the cuticle is thick and coated 
with wax. Schizogenous secretory cavities are characteristic of the 
plants of this family, and are distributed throughout the paren- 
chyma of the stems and leaves, giving to the latter pellucid-punctate 
areas. The secretory cavities arise very early in the development 
of the tissues; and the secretion, which is of an oily nature, develops 
in a resinogenous layer lining the cavity, the walls of which finally 
become more or less suberized. Tannin cells are of quite common 
occurrence in the parenchymatous region of the axis and leaves. 
Stone cells are sometimes present in the primary cortex. The inner 
bark usually consists of alternating layers of bast fibers and leptome. 
The tracheae usually possess simple pores or scalariform thickenings, 
except when they are in contact with the wood parenchyma, when 
the dividing wall is marked by bordered pores. The medullary rays 
are usually from 1 to 3 cells wide H Calcium oxalate is secreted in the 
form of rosette aggregates and ordinary solitary crystals. The non- 
glandular hairs are usually unicellular and glandular hairs are wanting. 

Eucalyptus. — The leaves of Eucalyptus Globulus (Fam. Myrta- 
cese), a tree (Fig. 201), indigenous to eastern Australia and Tas- 
mania, and cultivated in southern Europe, California and the southern 
United States. The leaves are collected from older portions of the 
tree and dried, the principal part of the commercial supply coming 
from the southern part of France. 

Description. — Bilateral, lanceolate, scythe-shaped, 15 to 30 cm. 
in length, 2.5 to 5 cm. in breadth; summit acuminate; base some- 
what unequal, acute; margin entire, revolute; surface fight green, 
glabrous, with numerous small circular, reddish-brown depressions 



464 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



or projections in the neighborhood of the stomata and veins, con- 
sisting of cork cells * ; midrib usually with a small groove on one side ; 
veins of the first order diverging at an angle of about 55°, running 
to within 1 mm. of the edge, where they anastomose, forming a vein 
parallel with the margin; petiole 2 to 3 cm. in length, flattened and 
somewhat twisted; glandular-punctate; texture coriaceous; odor 
slightly aromatic; taste aromatic, somewhat bitter and cooling. 




Fig. 201. — Eucalyptus Globulus; A, young branch with opposite, oblong, dor- 
siventral, sessile leaves. B, flowering branch with scythe-shaped, petiolate, 
scattered, bilateral leaves. C, flower-bud showing the detached upper 
portion of the perianth (operculum or lid) which covers the stamens until 
they are fully mature. D, longitudinal section of a flower-bud showing 
incurved filaments which curve outwards when the flower matures. E, 
stamens in two views. F, truncated capsule or pyxis. G, two fertile seeds. 
H, sterile seed, seeds of this kind usually being most numerous. J, two 
germinating plants. — A and F, after Niedenzu; G and «/, after Muller. 



Inner Structure. — The cells of the ventral surface have a thick 
cuticle, covered with wax; the mesophyll consists mostly of a number 
of layers of palisade cells among which are distributed large, spher- 

1 These corky patches are due to the concentration of the salts in the leaves, 
some of the constituents setting up an irritation with subsequent changes in the 
tissues. 



EUCALYPTUS 465 

oidal oil-secretion cavities with a yellow or orange oily content; near 
the middle of the leaf is a small layer of loose mesophyll in which are 
secreted crystals of calcium oxalate in the form of rosette aggregates 
or rhombohedra, from 0.015 to 0.25 mm. in diameter; the epidermal 
cells on the dorsal surface resemble those on the ventral surface, but 
the stomata are more numerous; the fibrovascular bundles of the 
petiole and midrib have a more or less interrupted circle of slightly 
Hgnified bast fibers. 

Powder. — Light green; calcium oxalate in rosette aggregates 
or monoclinic prisms, from 0.015 to 0.025 mm. in diameter; frag- 
ments showing large yellowish- or orange-colored oil secretion cavities 
and numerous palisade layers; outer walls of epidermal cells about 
0.020 mm. in thickness. In leaves from younger parts of the tree, 
the outer walls of the epidermal cells from 0.005 to 0.008 mm. in thick- 
ness, the palisade tissue is developed beneath the ventral surface 
only, while the stomata are present only on the dorsal epidermal 
layer. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil 3 to 6 per cent, of which over 60 per 
cent is eucalyptol (cineol), the remainder consisting of d-pinene 
(eucalypten) and other terpenes; several resins, one of which is 
crystalline and colored brownish-red with ferric chloride; a neutral 
bitter principle; eucalyptic acid; tannic acid and calcium oxalate. 

Allied Plants. — The following Eucalpyts yield an oil consisting 
principally of eucalyptol and pinene, and in which the eucalyptol 
exceeds 40 per cent, phellandrene being absent: Eucalyptus resini- 
fera, E. polyanthema, E. Behriana, E. Rossii, E. pendula, E. dealbata, 
E. tereticornis linearis, E. rostrata borealis, E. maculosa, E. camphora, 
E. punctata, E. squamosa, E. Bridgesiana, E. goniocalyx, E. bicolor, 
E. viminalis, E. populifolia, E. longifolia, E. Maideni, E. Globulus, 
E. pulverulenta, E. cinerea, E. Stuartiana, E. Stiiartiana var. cor- 
data, E. Morrisii, E. Smithii and E. sideroxylon. • 

Literature. — Baker and Smith, A Research on the Eucalypts; 
McClatchie, the Eucalypts Cultivated in the United States, Bull. 
No. 35, Bureau of Forestry of the U. S. Department of Agricul- 
ture; Kraemer, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1904, p. 177. 

Eucalyptus Kino. — Australian Kino, Red Gum or Eucalyptus 
Gum. — The inspissated juice of Eucalyptus rostrata and other species 
of Eucalyptus. It occurs in masses or small fragments, which are 
of a ruby or garnet-red color (not reddish-black), somewhat dusty, 
but not so brittle as Malabar kino. It contains 40 to 50 per cent of 
tannic acid; kino red, and catechin. About 80 to 90 per cent is 
soluble in cold water, the solution having a neutral reaction. Austral- 



466 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

ian kino seems to be more unstable than Malabar kino and is 
converted into insoluble kino red, particularly if not thoroughly 
dried. 

Eucalyptus kino is also obtained from the following species: 
Iron-bark tree (E. Leucoxylon), E. Gunnii, E. obliqua, E. piper- 
ata, E. falcifolia, E. stellulata, E. macrorhyncha, E. amygdalina 
radiata. Several species of Angophora yield a kino which is wholly 
soluble in alcohol and is entirely free from gum. So-called Botany 
Bay (Australian) kino was at one time supposed to be obtained from 
Eucalyptus resinifera. 

Caryophyllus. — Cloves. — The flower-buds of Jambosa Caryo- 
phyllus (Syn. Eugenia Caryophyllata and E. aromatica) (Fam. 
Myrtaceae), an evergreen tree, indigenous to the Molucca Islands, 
where it is also cultivated, as well as in Zanzibar, Ceylon and Java. 
The flower-buds are collected, dried in the sun or artificially, the color 
changing from a crimson to a brownish. The chief commercial sup- 
plies come from Amboyna, Penang and Zanzibar, the former two 
varieties being preferred. 

Description. — About 15 mm. in length, 3 to 6 mm. in diameter, 
more or less cylindrical, dark brown, calyx epigynous with four 
incurved teeth about 3 mm. in length, surmounted by a light-brown 
globular portion consisting of four, imbricated, glandular-punctate 
petals, which alternate with the calyx teeth; stamens numerous, 
crowded and incurved, style one, ovary 2-locular, with numerous 
ovules; odor and taste strongly aromatic. 

Powder. — (Fig. 202.) Light brown to reddish-brown; pollen 
grains, from 0.015 to 0.020 mm. in diameter, tetrahedral, somewhat 
spheroidal, with three pores; calcium oxalate crystals in rosette 
aggregates from 0.010 to 0.015 mm. in diameter, occasionally in 
crystal fibers; sclerenclrymatous fibers spindle-shaped, thick-walled, 
strongly lignified and with simple oblique pores; tracheae spiral, 
thick-walled; oil secretory cavities and oil globules numerous. The 
powder of clove stems is less aromatic and contains numerous yel- 
low, nearly isodiametric and irregular, thick-walled stone cells, having 
numerous pores; and also scalariform and reticulate tracheae. The 
powder of the fruit of cloves, or so-called mother of cloves, contains 
numerous single, ellipsoidal and irregular polygonal starch grains, 
having an excentral point of origin of growth, and varying in length 
from 0.010 to 0.035 mm. The pericarp of the fruit also contains 
numerous irregular stone cells and sclerenchymatous fibers, the latter 
being oblong and attaining a length of 5 mm., the walls being very 
irregular in outline. 



CLOVES 



467 



Constituents. — The chief constituent is the volatile oil, which 
occurs to the extent of 15 to 20 per cent, and consists of caryophyllene 
and eugenol, the latter constituting 50 to 85 per cent of the oil. 
The darkening of old oil of cloves is supposed to be due to furfurol, 
an aldehyde formed on decomposition of -some of the carbohydrates 
and albuminoids. Cloves also contain an odorless, tasteless principle 
caryophyllin, which crystallizes in silky needles and yields upon the 
addition of fuming nitric acid crystals of caryophyllinic acid; vanillin; 




Fig. 202. — Powdered Cloves: B, bast fibers; A, cells of anther showing the char- 
acteristic markings or thickenings of the walls; P, pollen grains which appear 
triangular in outline when mounted in water; 0, oil secretory cavities, the 
large one to the left being from a petal; E, surface view of epidermal cells 
of petal; P, parenchyma; C, calcium oxalate; T, tracheae; St, a number of 
stone cells from the young branches or twigs, the so-called " clove stems." 



eugenin (isomeric with eugenol or eugenic acid), which resembles 
caryophyllin but becomes reddish with nitric acid; gallotannic acid 
10 to 13 per cent; calcium oxalate, and 5 to 7 per cent of ash. 

Cloves are the dried flower buds of Caryophyllus aromaticus L. 
They contain not more than 5 per cent of clove stems, not less than 



468 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

15 per cent of volatile ether extract, not less than 12 per cent of 
quercitannic acid (calculated from the total oxygen absorbed by the 
aqueous extract), not more than 10 per cent of crude fiber, not more 
than 7 per cent of total ash, nor more than ^ per cent of ash insolu- 
ble in hydrochloric acid. (U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Adulterants. — Clove stalks are less aromatic and yield from 4 to 7 
per cent of volatile oil. The so-called mother of cloves is the nearly 
ripe fruit of Jambosa (Caryophyllus or clove tree, which furnishes 
cloves. The fruit is an ovoid, brownish berry about 25 mm. in 
length; it is less aromatic than cloves and contains large, branching 
stone cells, or short bast fibers, and numerous pear-shaped or trun- 
cated starch grains from 0.010 to 0.040 mm. in diameter. It is stated 
that artificial cloves have been made by using starch, gum and oil of 
cloves; or from dough and clove powder. These are easily distin- 
guished by adding the spurious article to water, when the compound 
disintegrates. 

Pimenta. — Allspice. — The fruit of Pimenta officinalis (Fam. 
Myrtacese), a tree indigenous to the West Indies, Mexico, Central 
America and Venezuela, where it is also cultivated, especially in 
Jamaica. The panicles are collected when the fruit is full grown 
but still green, and dried in the sun, the fruit being subsequently 
separated. 

Description. — Drupe dry, inferior, sub-globular, 5 to 7 mm. in 
diameter; externally dark brown, glandular-punctate; summit 
with four minute calyx teeth or forming a minute ring and surround- 
ing the remnants of the somewhat depressed style; base with scar or 
pedicel or occasionally with a pedicel 4 to 6 mm. in length; pericarp 
about 1 mm. in thickness; internally light brown, 2-locular, 2-seeded, 
dissepiments thin; seeds campylotropous, plano-convex, slightly 
reniform, about 4 mm. in length and about 3 mm. in thickness, exter- 
nally reddish-brown, smooth, somewhat wrinkled, shiny, internally 
dark brown, reserve layer wanting, embryo spirally curved, with a 
long, thick radicle and minute cotyledons; odor and taste aromatic, 
supposed to resemble those of a mixture of cloves and other spices, 
whence the name " Allspice." 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 203. 

Powder. — Dark brown; rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate, 
occasionally in monoclinic prisms, from 0.010 to 0.020 mm. in diam- 
eter; starch grains single or 2- to 3-compound, the individual grains 
somewhat spheroidal, from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. in diameter, each 
with a distinct cleft at the middle; stone cells nearly isodiametric, 
thin-walled, with numerous simple pores and branched canals and 



ALLSPICE 



469 



nearly colorless contents; oil-secretion cavities with wine-colored 
contents; oil globules numerous; parenchymatous cells occasionally 
lignified, and with irregular reddish-brown tannin masses, which are 
colored greenish with ammonio-ferric sulphate solution; non-glan- 




oil 



-ca. 



c St 



Fig. 203. — Pimenta: Outer wail of pericarp showing epidermal cells of epicarp 
(e); cells of mesocarp consisting of oil-secretory cavities (oil), stone cells (st) 
and parenchyma (p) containing rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate (ca); 
endocarp consisting of stone cells beneath which is a layer of more or less 
collapsed cells (I). — After Moeller. 



dular hairs from 0.100 to 0.200 mm. in length, with very thick walls 
and narrow lumina, particularly towards the summit. 

Allspice stems, which are always present to a greater or less 
extent in ground Pimenta, have rather characteristic unicellular hairs 
that are somewhat swollen on one side. 



470 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Constituents.— Volatile oil (3 to 4 per cent) consisting of about 
60 per cent of eugenol; resin; an acrid fixed oil about 6 per cent; 
tannic acid ; starch ; calcium oxalate ; ash about 4 per cent. 

Standard of Purity. — Allspice, pimento, is the dried, nearly ripe 
fruit of Pimenta officinalis (L.) Karst. It contains not less than 8 
per cent of quercitannic acid (calculated from the total oxygen 
absorbed by the aqueous extract), not more than 25 per cent of crude 
fiber, not more than 6 per cent of total ash, nor more than ^ per 
cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. (U. S. Dept. of Agric.) 

Allied Plants. — A variety of P. officinalis yields a fruit with 
large drupes known as Tobasco or Mexican Allspice. The structure 
of this fruit resembles that of pimenta, as also does the Crown All- 
spice obtained from P. acris, a tree of tropical America, the fruits of 
which are 8 to 10 mm. in length. 

West Indian bay oil is distilled from the leaves of Pimenta acris, 
Kostel, and is used in the preparation of bay rum. The leaves of 
two varieties of P. acris, known locally as " Bois dTnde Citronelle " 
and " Bois dTnde Anise," are frequently admixed with the leaves of 
the true bay to the great detriment of the oil subsequently distilled. 
The oil from the " Citronella " variety (P. acris var. citrifolia) con- 
tains citral and has the flavor of lemon. Why the oil from the 
" Anise " variety does not reach the desired standard is not yet clear. 
The varietal forms intermingle in extensive wild growths near the 
coasts of many of the West Indian islands and the leaves are gath- 
ered indiscriminately. Much harm has already resulted to the bay 
oil industry and it is a matter of great concern to the distillers that 
either some method be determined for distinguishing the undesirable 
leaves or that plantations of the true P. acris be established. 

Adulterants. — Ground allspice has been adulterated with clove 
stems (Fig. 202), cocoa shells, and the endocarp of the olive. 

The various spices have been adulterated with the following 
substances: The hulls of Sinapis alba (Figs. 127 and 128); walnut 
shells (Juglans regia, Fig. 70) which are .distinguished by their color- 
less stone cells and brown parenchyma; and shells of the Brazil nut 
(Bertholletia excelsa, Fam. Myrtaceae) which are identified by the 
isodiametric stone cells with colorless walls and dark-brown contents, 
and the brown parenchyma. 

COMBRETACEJS, OR MYROBALANS FAMILY 

Mostly tropical trees and shrubs, comprising about 175 species. 
Like the Fagacese the plants of this family contain a tannin similar 



JUNGLE PLANT 471 

to gallotannic acid distributed throughout the parenchyma. Small 
groups of bast fibers are occasionally found in the pericycle. The 
fibrovascular bundles are bi-collateral, frequently having an intra- 
xylary development of leptome. The tracheae have simple pores, 
except when in contact with the wood parenchyma, when bordered 
pores are developed. The wood fibers possess bordered pores and 
the medullary rays are narrow. Calcium oxalate is usually secreted 
in the form of rosette aggregates giving rise to translucent dots in 
the leaves. In the stems the calcium oxalate is in the form of crystal 
fibers accompanying the bast fibers. The non-glandular hairs are 
unicellular or consist of two horizontally placed cells connected at 
their bases. The glandular hairs possess either long or short stalks. 

Combretum. — Jungle Plant. — The leaves of Combretum sun- 
daicum '(Fam. Combretacese) , a woody climber, indigenous to 
Sumatra and used to some extent in the treatment of the opium habit, 
thereby receiving the name of " anti-opium plant." 

Description. — More or less crumpled and mixed with rather large 
stem portions; leaves broadly elliptical or ovate, short petiolate, 
from 8 to 15 cm. in length and 5 to 7 cm. in breadth, summit acute, or 
acuminate, base rounded, margin entire or slightly wavy, upper 
surface light to dark greenish-brown, lower surface somewhat lighter 
in color, reticulate and marked by a distinct midrib and veins of the 
first order, the latter diverging at an angle of about 50° and uniting 
with each other along the margin, coriaceous; petiole from 7 to 
15 mm. in length, having a shallow groove on the ventral surface; 
odor slight; taste slightly bitter and acrid. 

Stems from 6 to 15 cm. in length and from 3 to 15 mm. in diameter, 
light brown or light reddish-brown, longitudinally striate, waxy, 
sometimes with long, grayish patches of cork, branches opposite; 
fracture short, fibrous, internally bark thin, light brown, wood large, 
porous and a small pith. 

Inner Structure. — Epidermal layer of upper surface of rectangular 
or tabular cells, having very thick, colorless walls and each usually 
containing a large nucleus; palisade layer of two or three rows of 
rather short, narrow cells; loose mesophyll of 8 to 12 rows of thick- 
walled cells having large intercellular spaces and among which are 
distributed the fibrovascular bundles and cells containing calcium 
oxalate; epidermal cells of dorsal surface resembling those of the 
ventral surface; fibrovascular bundle of the veins, hemispherical in 
shape, consisting of a large crescent-shaped xylem, having in the 
sinus as well as at the periphery the strands of leptome and sur- 
rounded by a nearly continuous ring of narrow stereome or scleren- 



472 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

chymatous fibers; tracheae with wide lumina, the walls marked 
by simple and occasionally bordered pores; sclerenchymatous fibers 
with thick, finely lamellated walls, being in some portions strongly 
lignified and often accompanied by crystal fibers, having octahedra 
of calcium oxalate from 0.010 to 0.020 mm. in length; calcium oxalate 
also occurs in large spheroidal cells of the mesophyll, producing trans- 
parent dots in the leaves, the crystals varying from 0.015 to 0.040 
mm. in diameter; stomata broadly elliptical and having the two 
neighboring cells parallel to the pore. 

In the stem there is developed an outer layer of thin-walled 
epidermal cells; a strata of six or eight rows of thin-walled cells 
having a reddish-brown content; primary cortex of six to ten rows 
of tangentially elongated narrow cells filled with a brownish-black 
granular content, containing tannin; inner cortex composed of 
three or more thick, continuous rings of bast fibers, separated by uni- 
seriate medullary rays, the cells having a blackish-brown tannin- 
content resembling that in the parenchyma cells of the primary 
cortex; bast fibers with very thick, lignified walls and possessing 
very small lumina; leptome in narrow, tangential strands separating 
the bast fibers; wood wedges having a few large tracheae with very 
wide lumina, and numerous thick-walled wood fibers, separated by 
uniseriate medullary rays having very small and narrow cells. 

Constituents. — Combretum has not been very carefully inves- 
tigated. It contains a small quantity of resin and tannic acid and 
apparently does not contain either an alkaloid or a glucoside. At 
one time it was thought that it might contain caffeine and to this 
were ascribed its properties, but this has not been confirmed. 

Uses. — The twigs and leaves are cut into pieces about 1 inch in 
length, the twigs separated from the leaves. The leaves are then 
roasted, mixed again with the twigs and a decoction made by boiling 
about 8 or 10 ounces of the mixture in 4 gallons of water, for several 
hours. The decoction is then strained and used before decomposi- 
tion takes place. The opium habitue begins by mixing his ordinary 
dose of opium with 1 quart of the decoction. Three ounces of the 
mixture is taken at the same intervals to which he was accustomed 
to smoke the opium. The quantity of opium is gradually reduced 
and finally he uses only the decoction of Combretum. It is stated 
that almost any inert substitute can be used with equal beneficial 
results. 

Literature. — Holmes, Pharm. Jour. (78), p. 77; Stanislaus and 
Wood, Jour. A. Ph. A., 1912, p. 34. 



SPIKENARD 473 



ARALIACE^), OR GINSENG FAMILY 

A family consisting of about 450 species of plants which are 
widely distributed. They are perennial herbs, shrubs or trees. 
The leaves are mostly palmately lobed or compound; the flowers 
are small, perfect or polygamous, frequently occurring in umbels; 
the fruit is either a berry or a drupe. The plants are especially 
characterized by the presence of schizogenous secretion canals in 
the parenchymatous tissues of pith and cortex and in the veins 
of the leaves. They contain a volatile oil, resin, gum and occa- 
sionally a milky content. Schizogenous secretion cavities also are 
sometimes present giving a pellucid-punctate character to the 
leaves. In the root, resin canals are generally situated opposite 
the strands of primary xylem and phloem and in consequence there 
is an exceptional displacement of the young lateral branches. The 
tracheae are marked by simple pores or scalariform thickenings, 
except when in contact with the parenchyma, when bordered pores 
are developed. The wood fibers usually possess simple pores. 
In a number of species of Aralia collateral medullary vascular bun- 
dles are developed, which are inversely orientated, i.e., the phloem 
being directed toward the center of the pith and the xylem being 
developed in the direction of the cortex. Weiss has shown that 
these bundles in Aralia racemosa appear first as normal bundles in 
the peripheral ring and only enter the pith later, at the same time 
undergoing a rotation through 180°. Calcium oxalate is usually 
secreted in the form of rosette aggregates, being only occasionally 
present in the form of solitary crystals. In the leaves there is usually 
a development of a hypodermal layer. The leaves are usually 
glabrous, but in the floral parts both glandular and non-glandular 
hairs of several different forms occur. 

Aealia Racemosa. — American Spikenard, or Indian Root. — 
The rhizome and roots of Aralia racemosa (Fam. Araliacese), a 
perennial herb growing in rich woodlands of the eastern United 
States and Canada. The plant grows to a height of 1 or 2 M., 
possesses a thick, fleshy rhizome; large, ternately-compound leaves; 
and numerous umbels of small, greenish flowers, which are arranged 
in large compound panicles. The fruits are small bright reddish, 
or reddish-purple drupes and give the plant a very handsome and 
striking appearance. The rhizomes are gathered in the fall, some- 
times cut longitudinally to facilitate drying, and should be carefully 
dried and preserved. 



474 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Description. — Rhizome oblique, sub-cylindrical, somewhat flat- 
tened and more or less branched and tortuous; from 5 to 15 cm. in 
length and 3 to 7 cm. in thickness; externally light brown, distinctly 
annulate, having on the upper surface numerous stem-scars from 2 to 3 
cm. in width, the older scars being deeply concave, and on the lower 
and lateral portions numerous, somewhat fleshy roots; the latter 
being terete, from 4 to 7 cm. in length, from 0.5 to 2.5 cm. in thick- 
ness, having a light- or purplish-brown color, marked by longitudinal 
furrows and occasional transverse ridges and scaly cork; fracture 
of cortex short and of the wood short-fibrous; inner surface whitish, 
spongy, bark thick with numerous oil secretion canals, wood dis- 
tinctly radiate; odor aromatic; taste pungent and slightly acrid. 

Powder. — Light brown; starch grains numerous, single or 2- 
to 4-compound, the individual grains spheroidal or somewhat poly- 
hedral, from 0.003 to 0.020 mm. in diameter; calcium oxalate in 
rosette aggregates from 0.025 to 0.075 mm. in diameter; tracheae 
with simple pores or scalariform thickenings, occasionally bordered 
pores; sclerenchymatous fibers of pericycle with thick, strongly 
lignified, porous walls. 

Aralia Nudicaulis. — American Wild or Virginian Sarsaparilla. 
— The rhizome of Aralia nudicaulis (Fam. Araliacese), a nearly 
prostrate perennial herb, producing a very long rootstock, a solitary 
pinately 3- to 5-foliate leaf and a naked scape with 2 to 7 umbels of 
green flowers. The plant is common in moist woodlands of the 
eastern United States and Canada. 

Description. — The rhizome attains a length of many meters and 
is from 5 to 15 mm. in thickness; externally grayish-brown, longitudi- 
nally wrinkled and somewhat annulate; fracture short; internally 
bark light brown, with numerous large oil secretion canals, wood 
yellowish, distinctly radiate, pith spongy, whitish; odor and taste 
aromatic. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 204. 

Powder. — Light brown; rosette aggregates oi calcium oxalate 
from 0.035 to 0.070 mm. in diameter; starch grains numerous, 
spheroidal, from 0.005 to 0.020 mm. in diameter; tracheae with sca- 
lariform thickenings, also simple and bordered pores; wood fibers 
long, with slightly thickened walls and simple pores; large oil secre- 
tion canals, and brown cork cells. 

Constituents. — The rhizome contains about 0.33 per cent of a 
volatile oil, which is bitter and pungent; 3 per cent of resin; tannin, 
starch and rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate. 
, • Literature.— Alpers and Murray, Proc. A. Ph. A., 1897, p. 183. 



GINSENG 



475 



Aralia Spinosa. — Prickly Elder, Angelica Tree, Hercules Club. 
— The bark of Aralia spinosa (Fam, Araliacese), a shrub or tree 
growing on banks of streams of the eastern United States. The 
bark is usually employed, although other parts of the plant possess 
medicinal properties. 

Description. — In quills, or transversely curved pieces from 3 to 20 
cm. in length and 0.5 to 2 cm. in width and bark 1 to 3 mm. in thick- 
ness; externally grayish-brown, nearly smooth, irregularly wrinkled 
and having numerous lenticels; inner surface light yellowish-brown, 
finely reticulate and somewhat crystalline and usually with numerous 
bright, shining crystals; fracture short-fibrous; inner surface of 



MfiZy^ 




Fig. 204. — Aralia nudicaulis: Transverse section of rhizome showing cork (k), 
hypodermis (h), rosette aggregates (ca) of calcium oxalate, parenchyma (p) 
containing angular starch grains, oil secretion canals (o), sieve (s), medullary 
rays (m), cambium (c), tracheae (t), wood fibers (w). 



thin, easily separable dark brown cork and yellowish-white cortex; 
odor aromatic, taste bitter and acrid. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil having a greenish-yellow color; 
an acrid resin, soluble in alcohol and insoluble in ether; a saponin 
(araliin); a tasteless resin; a crystalline substance and chlorophyll. 
The drug does not contain either tannic acid or an alkaloid. 

Literature. — Lilly, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1882, p. 433. 

Ginseng. — Radix Ginseng, Schinsent. — The roots of Panax 
quinquefolium and P. Ginseng (Fam. Araliacese), perennial herbs, 
the former growing in rich woods in the eastern United States, 
and Canada, and the latter indigenous to the mountainous forests of 
eastern Asia and cultivated in northern China, Korea and Japan. 



476 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

The roots are gathered from 3- to 4-year-old plants, carefully cleaned 
and dried. The drug is extensively used in China and it has been 
estimated that about 40,000 K. of ginseng are exported annually. 
The supplies are not only obtained from wild plants, but also from 
cultivated plants. The roots which are seen in the Chinese bazaars 
are yellowish-brown, very horny and somewhat translucent, indicat- 
ing that they have been subjected to some special treatment. While 
the method is not generally known similar specimens may be prepared 
by boiling, for a short time, the recently gathered roots with freshly 
slaked lime. For illustrations of American-grown ginseng and Chinese 
root, consult Kraemer's Applied and Economic Botany, p. 105. 

Description. — Cylindrical, usually fusiform, from 5 to 12 cm. in 
length, and 1 to 2.5 cm. in thickness; externally light yellowish- 
brown, distinctly annulate in the upper portion, and terminated at the 
crown by one or more stem scars, lower portion very much wrinkled, 
occasionally branching, and marked by a number of root scars; frac- 
ture short; internally light yellowish-brown, marked by a distinct 
dark brown cambium zone, a distinctly radiate wood and numerous 
oil secretion canals, which in older roots have a brownish-red resinous 
content; odor slightly aromatic; taste sweetish, mucilaginous and 
slightly bitter. 

Constituents. — The active principle appears to be a glucosidal 
substance, panaquilon. It also contains a saponin; a bitter principle; 
a volatile oil containing a camphoraceous-like substance; resin; 
panacin; sugar; mucilage; and starch. 

Allied Plants. — Chinese ginseng is yellowish-brown, translucent, 
and has a bitter, followed by a sweet and mucilaginous taste. Jap- 
anese ginseng is spindle-shaped, light yellow, hard and woody. 
The Korean ginseng is usually much branched, yellowish-brown or 
light brown, the roots being still attached. 

Panax Repens. — The rhizome of Panax repens (Fam. Araliacese), 
a plant growing in Japan, is considered to have properties similar to 
those of ginseng. 

Description. — Rhizome horizontal, nearly cylindrical, more or less 
curved, from 5 to 10 cm. in length and 3 to 6 mm. in thickness; 
externally yellowish-white, nodes considerably thickened and marked 
on the upper surface by circular stem scars; fracture horny; inter- 
nally whitish, marked by small yellowish oil-secretion canals in the 
cortex, narrow wedges of collateral fibrovascular bundles separated 
by broad medullary rays, pith large. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 205.) The cork consists of four to six 
rows of tabular cells ; a layer of cells nearly free from starch, the 



PANAX REPENS 



477 



walls having large pores and reticulate thickenings; the parenchyma 
of the cortex contains considerable starch and calcium oxalate in 
the form of rosette aggregates; in among the parenchyma cells 
occur large schizogenous oil canals, containing a yellowish oil, and 
are usually surrounded with eight secretion cells; the tracheae or 
vessels show either simple or bordered pores and reticulate thicken- 




Fig. 205. — Panax repens: A, rhizome showing prominent nodes and scars of the 
over-ground stems. B, transverse section of the outer portion of the 
rhizome showing cork (K), parenchyma with reticulate thickenings of the 
walls (NP), and secretion reservoirs (Se). C, transverse section of the woody 
portion showing the tracheae (H) and wood fibers (F). — After Rosenthaler 
and Stadler. 



ings; the wood fibers are about 0.560 mm. in length and 0.015 to 
0.025 mm. in width; the parenchyma of the pith contains consider- 
able starch. Saponin occurs in some of the parenchyma cells of 
cortex and pith and its presence may be determined by giving a 
violet-red color with concentrated sulphuric acid. 



478 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Constituents. — Panax repens contains 20.8 per cent of saponin. 
The latter constituent is also present in ginseng and other members 
of the Araliacese, as Panax fruticosum, of tropical Asia; Aralia mon- 
tana, of Java; Polyscias nodosa, of the Malay peninsula; Hep- 
tapleurum venulosum, of tropical Asia and Australia; and Trevesia 
sundaica, of Java. 

Literature. — Rosenthaler and Stadler, Ber, d. d. pharm. Ges., 
1907, p. 450. 

UMBELLIFER^, OR CARROT FAMILY 

A family of about 1600 species of herbs, which are widely dis- 
tributed, being most abundant in the temperate zones. The leaves 
are alternate and mostly decompound ; the flowers may be of various 
colors, but are always arranged in umbels; the fruit is a cremocarp, 
the morphological characters of which are relied upon in the taxo- 
nomic study of the species. The plants resemble in many respects 
the Araliaceae. Schizogenous secretory canals are found in the 
primary cortex, pericycle, pith and occasionally in the secondary 
cortex. The contents of the canals being a volatile oil, resin or gum, 
which in the fresh state is either of a clear and aqueous character or of 
a milky consistency and of a white or yellowish color. There is 
usually a collenchymatous thickening of the cell walls of the primary 
cortex, corresponding to the ribs of the stems and fruits. Medullary 
vascular bundles occur in several modifications in the stem. The 
vascular bundles of the petiole are always isolated. In the root of 
Oenanthe the vascular bundles in the cortex are of the concentric 
type. The walls of the tracheae and wood fibers usually possess 
simple pores. The pith of the internodes is usually hollow. Cal- 
cium oxalate is usually secreted in the form of rosette aggregates, 
but in the stem also occurs as solitary crystals. Non-glandular hairs 
occasionally are present and may be unicellular, stellate, multiseriate 
or abietiform. Glandular hairs are wanting. 

Anisum. — Anise. — The dried, ripe fruit of Pimpinella Anisum 
(Fam. Umbelliferae), an annual herb, indigenous to Asia Minor, 
Egypt and Greece, and cultivated in South America, Germany, 
Spain, Italy and southern Russia. The drug is derived from culti- 
vated plants, and that obtained from Spain, and known as " Alicante 
Anise," is preferred. 

Description. — Mericarps usually coherent and attached to a 
slender pedicel 4 to 10 mm. in length; cremocarp ovoid, laterally 
compressed, 4 to 5 mm, in length, about 2 mm. in diameter, exter- 



ANISE 479 

nally greenish-brown or grayish-green, with ten yellowish, filiform, 
primary ribs, finely pubescent, summit with a ring-like disk and two 
projecting divergent styles about 0.5 mm. in length; internally 
yellowish-brown, with a slender carpophore attached to each mericarp, 
the latter in section irregularly plano-convex, slightly concave on the 
commissural side and usually with two large vittae on each face, 
dorsal surface with 30 to 40 vittae; seed somewhat reniform in section, 
closely cohering to the pericarp, with a small embryo at the upper end 
of the reserve layer; odor and taste pleasantly aromatic. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 206.) An epidermal layer with numerous 
papillae and short, one-celled, non-glandular hairs having very thick, 
papillose walls; primary ribs each with a small fibrovascular bundle, 
surrounded by a few sclerenchymatous fibers; vittae or oil secretory 
canals, 13 to 56 in number, extending as a more or less interrupted 
circle in the tissues of the mesocarp on the dorsal side of each meri- 
carp; 2 large vittae on the commissural surface, each separated from 
the other tissues of the mericarp by a large cavity due to shrinkage 
of the seed-coat; inner epidermis of pericarp consisting of a layer of 
narrow tangentially elongated cells closely united with the seed-coat, 
the inner walls of which are yellowish-brown and considerably thick- 
ened ; endosperm of polygonal, thick-walled cells, filled with spheroi- 
dal or ellipsoidal aleurone grains, each containing a small rosette 
aggregate of calcium oxalate; the aleurone grains embedded in an 
oily protoplasm, the oil of which is liberated upon mounting sections 
in solutions of potassium hydrate or hydrated chloral, and appearing 
in the form of small globules; epidermal layer near the middle of 
the commissural surface composed of 2 or 3 rows of cells with thick, 
porous walls, and beneath which is a layer containing small groups of 
thick-walled cells resembling stone cells. 

Powder. — Yellowish-brown; non-glandular hairs from 0.025 to 
0.200 mm. in length and from 0.010 to 0.015 mm. in width, 1-celled, 
straight or curved, with numerous slight centrifugal projections; 
calcium oxalate in rosette aggregates from 0.002 to 0.003 mm. in 
diameter, being present in the aleurone grains, which are about 0.006 
mm. in diameter; vittae (in fragments) from 0.010 to 0.150 mm. in 
width and showing a marked tendency to branch; long, narrow, 
brownish epidermal cells; sclerenchymatous cells of carpophore 
having simple pores and occasional scalariform thickenings. 

Italian Anise is occasionally admixed with conium which is 
distinguished by the absence of hairs and vittae and the presence 
of coniine, which is determined by the development of the character- 
istic odor on rubbing up the powder with alkalies or placing the 



480 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 206. — Anise: A, transverse section of cremocarp showing carpophore (cp), 
wide vittae (of) on ventral (commissural) surface and smaller vittse (o, ok) 
between the ribs on the dorsal surface, fibrovascular bundles of ribs (Gb), 
sclerenchymatous fibers (sk), an air cavity in the wall of the pericarp on the 
ventral side (h), raphe tissue (R) with fibrovascular bundle (r), seed-coat 
(Sa) and endosperm (Ed). B, inner epidermis of pericarp. C, epidermis of 
seed-coat. D, cell of endosperm showing a number of aleurone grains 
containing small rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate, a large nucleus in 
the center of the cell, and a few isolated aggregates of calcium oxalate (d). 
E, sclerenchymatous cells of the inner epidermis of the pericarp in the neigh- 
borhood of the carpophore. F, transverse section of pericarp and seed-coat 
showing epidermal cells (E) and a non-glandular hair having thick lamellated 
walls (h), parenchyma (p), a vitta (6), inner epidermis (Ei) and seed-coat 
(Sa). — After Meyer. 



CARAWAY 481 

powder in a solution of potassium or sodium hydrate. The following 
micro-chemical tests may be , useful in determining the presence of 
coniine, which occurs in the parenchyma and epidermal cells of the 
fruit: Ammonium vanadinate and sulphuric acid produce a blue 
color; iodin solution gives a reddish-brown color; and picric acid 
gives a granular precipitate. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil (1 to 3 per cent) consisting of about 80 
to 90 per cent of anethol (p-propenylanisol), and methyl-chavicol 
and terpenes; fixed oil 3 to 4 per cent; calcium oxalate; ash about 
7 per cent. 

Russian aniseed is used chiefly for the manufacture of the 
volatile oil. 

Allied Drugs. — Illicum or star-anise yields an oil closely resembling 
that of anise. It contains 80 to 90 per cent of anethol, d-pinene, 
d-phellandrene, ethyl ether of hydroquinone and possibly safrol 
(seep. 299). 

Adulterants. — Italian aniseed is sometimes contaminated with 
conium, and the fruits of some of the grasses and rushes as well. 

Pimpernel (or Pimpinella), the roots of Pimpinella Saxifraga and 
P. magna, is used like anise. It occurs in fusiform pieces about 8 
to 10 cm. in length. 4 to 10 mm. in diameter, externally yellowish- 
brown, fracture short, internally whitish, with numerous yellowish 
resin canals; the taste is acrid, pungent and aromatic. The drug 
contains a volatile oil ; an acrid resin ; a tasteless crystalline principle, 
pimpinellin; about 8 per cent of sugar; starch; and tannin. 

Standard of Purity. — Anise, aniseed, is the dried fruit of Pim- 
pinella anisum L. It contains not more than 9 per cent of total ash, 
nor more than 1^ per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. 
(U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Carum. — Caraway. — The fruit of Carum Carvi (Fam. Umbelli- 
ferse), a biennial herb indigenous to Europe and Asia, and cultivated 
in England, Germany, Holland, Norway, Russia, Sweden and the 
United States, being naturalized in the northern United States and 
parts of Canada. The plants are cut when the fruits are ripe, the 
latter being separated by threshing. The fruits from plants grown 
in Holland are preferred. 

Description. — Mericarps usually separated; cremocarp oblong, 
laterally compressed, 4 to 6 mm. in length, 2 to 3 mm. in diameter, 
externally dark brown, surmounted by a small, somewhat globular 
stylopodium and 5 minute calyx teeth; primary ribs 10 in number, 
filiform, yellowish, between each of which are slight, secondary ribs; 
internally dark brown, mericarps curved, narrowed at both ends, 



482 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

and with a slender carpophore attached to each, the latter 5-angled 
in cross-section, the commissural surface with 2 vittse, the dorsal 
surface with a vitta between each of the primary ribs; seeds irregu- 
larly oblong in section, with a small embryo at the upper end of the 
reserve layer; odor and taste aromatic. 

Inner Structure.— (Fig. 207.) An epidermal, layer of nearly 
rectangular cells having thick outer walls; several rows of tangentially 
elongated parenchyma cells, frequently more or less collapsed; a 
single, large, elliptical, brown, vitta or oil secretory canal between 
each of the ribs and surrounded by small epithelial or secretion cells; 
in each of the ribs a single fibrovascular bundle surrounded by a 
layer of thick-walled sclerenchymatous fibers; inner epidermis of 
broadly elongated cells with very thin side-walls being very fre- 
quently broken and closely coherent with the more or less brownish, 
collapsed cells of the seed-coat; commissural surface with 2 large 
vittae and at the middle portion 2 large transverse hollow spaces 
formed by the separation of the tissues of the seed-coat on one side 
and the pericarp on the other, otherwise the cells resemble those on 
the dorsal surface; endosperm large, cells polygonal with thick walls 
and containing a fixed oil and aleurone grains, the latter usually 
containing a small rosette aggregate or prism of calcium oxalate. 

Powder. — Yellowish-brown or dark brown; cells of endosperm 
with aleurone grains, each usually containing a rosette aggregate of 
calcium oxalate from 0.0005 to 0.001 mm. in diameter; fragments 
with light yellow vittae, together with nearly isodiametric or polyg- 
onal, yellowish-brown, inner epidermal cells of pericarp; fragments 
with trachea? and sclerenchymatous fibers, the latter about 0.010 mm. 
in width, slightly lignified and with numerous oblique pores. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil from 5 to 7 per cent ; fixed oil; tannin; 
calcium oxalate, and 5 to 8 per cent of ash. 

Volatile oil of caraway contains 50 to 60 per cent of d-carvone 
(carvol), and 40 to 50 per cent d-limonene (carven). Caraway oil, 
particularly carvone, is colored yellow on exposure to air, and the 
old oil gives a reddish-violet color with ferric chloride solution. 

Standard of Purity. — Caraway, caraway seed, is the dried fruit of 
Carum carvi L. It contains not more than 8 per cent of total ash, 
nor more than 1^- per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. 
(U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Allied Drugs. — The seeds of Nigella sativa and N. damascena 
(Fam. Ranunculaceae), are used in medicine and for flavoring like 
caraway. They are commonly known as Black Caraway. The 
seeds are ovoid, 3- to 4-angled, about 3 mm. in length, externally 



CARAWAY 



483 




Fig. 2:07. — Caraway: A, transverse section of a mericarp and carpophore (Ft), 
showing vittae (6, or), primary ribs (r, rr), with fibrovascular bundle (ok), 
tissue of raphe (/) and endosperm (Ed). B, transverse section through a 
primary rib showing part of pericarp and seed-coat, outer epidermal cells 
(E), a small vitta (0), sieve (Si), tracheae (g), around which are thick-walled 
sclerenchymatous fibers; parenchyma (p, p'), inner epidermis (Ei), outer 
epidermis of seed-coat (So) and collapsed cells (L) of remainder of seed-coat. 
C, longitudinal section through part of a mericarp showing outer epidermis 
(E), parenchyma (p, p'), epithelial cells (Ep) and separating wall (Sch) 
of vittse (Se), inner epidermis of pericarp (Ei) and seed-coat (So). D, sur- 
face view of outer epidermis of fruit showing a single stoma, — After Meyer. 



484 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

black and reticulate; internally, having a large, oily reserve layer 
in which is embedded the small, greenish embryo. Black caraway 
contains 1.5 per cent of a volatile oil; 1.5 per cent of a glucoside, 
melanthin, which resembles saponin and helleborin; a fluorescent 
alkaloid, damascenin, giving the volatile oil from N. damascena its 
fluorescence; another alkaloid, connigelline; and about 35 per cent 
of a fixed oil. 

Due to the recent abnormal shortage of Indian dill-seed (Peu- 
cedanum Sowa) has been sold as a substitute but is very inferior to 
the Dutch caraway. Mogador caraway from Morocco is suitable 
only for distilling oil for perfuming soap. " Levant " caraway from 
Tunis, a novelty in the London market, is the most acceptable sub- 
stitute for the Dutch article so far offered. North Russian caraway 
is especially suited for the flavoring of the liqueur known as kummel, 
but yields very little volatile oil. 

Conium. — Poison Hemlock. — The fruit of Conium maculatum 
(Fam. L T mbellif erse) , a large biennial herb indigenous to Europe, and 
naturalized in North and South America and in various parts of Asia. 
The juice of this plant entered into the famous hemlock potion of 
the Greeks, and was employed by them in putting their criminals 
to death. The fruit is collected when full grown but still green 
from wild plants, carefully dried and preserved. 

Description. — Mericarps usually separated; cremocarp broadly 
ovoid, slightly compressed laterally, 3 to 4 mm. in length, about 2 mm. 
in diameter, with a pedicel 3 to 5 mm. in length, externally grayish- 
green, with 10 straight more or less crenate yellowish ribs, stylo- 
podium depressed, internally greenish-brown, with a slender carpo- 
phore attached to each mericarp, the latter 5-angled and somewhat 
renif orm in cross-section and without any vittse ; seeds renif orm, with 
a deep furrow on the commissural side, and with a small embryo 
at the upper end of the reserve layer; odor distinct; taste 
slight. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 208.) An epidermal layer of slightly 
papillose cells ; several layers of yellowish-brown cells, the inner and 
radial walls of which are somewhat thickened ; a middle layer of thin- 
walled cells; and an inner layer of small rectangular cells having 
thick walls; in each of the ribs occurs a single fibro vascular bundle 
surrounded by a layer of thick-walled sclerenchymatous fibers; 
endosperm pentangular in outline and reniform on the inner surface 
and consisting of polygonal cells containing an oily cytoplasm and 
numerous aleurone grains, the latter containing rosette aggregates 
of calcium oxalate from 0.002 to 0.005 in diameter. 



CONIUM 



485 




k^ 

Fig. 208. — Conium maculatum, showing the large decompound leaves with 
pinnatifid leaflets, and the compound umbels of flowers; also showing a 
detached flower and one of the fruits, considerably enlarged. — From Bulletin 
No. 26, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



486 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Powder.— Grayish-green or yellowish-brown; calcium oxalate 
crystals in rosette aggregates, 0.001 to 0.002 mm. in diameter, those 
in aleurone grains about 0.005 mm. in diameter; parenchyma with 
chloroplastids and starch grains, 0.002 to 0.004 mm. in diameter; 
sclerenchymatous fibers long, thin-walled, with numerous simple 
oblique pores; intermediate fibers with reticulated, walls; cells of 
pericarp nearly isodiametric, yellowish, irregularly thickened, some- 
what collenchymatous; oil globules numerous. 

Constituents. — The most important constituent is the liquid 
alkaloid coniine (hexa-hydropropyl pyridine), which exists to the 
extent of 0.5 to 3 per cent; the drug also contains conydrine (oxy- 
coniine), which crystallizes in plates, is dextro-rotatory and very 
poisonous; pseudoconydrine (an isomer of conydrine), which crys- 
tallizes in needles; 7-coniceine, which is a colorless, oily alkaloid 
with a disagreeable odor, and 18 times more poisonous even than 
coniine; volatile oil, fixed oil, starch, calcium oxalate, and yields 
about 6 per cent of ash. 

Coniine is naturally combined in the drug with organic acids, 
from which it is liberated on treatment with alkalies, and may be 
readily extracted from the mixture by means of ether. When 
pure, coniine is a colorless, nearly odorless, liquid and forms a number 
of crystalline salts. On the addition of concentrated sulphuric acid 
to coniine the latter is colored blood red and afterwards green. The 
disagreeable odor in commercial coniine, as well as in conium, is due to 
the alkaloid coniceine. 

Allied Drugs. — The entire fresh plant of Conium maculatum is 
used in the preparation of Succus Conii. It probably contains the 
same constituents as the fruit, but in smaller amounts. The root 
contains 0.018 to 0.047 per cent of total alkaloids; the stems 0.064 
per cent; the leaves 0.187 per cent and the flowers and flower stalks 
0.236 per cent. 

Water Hemlock (Cicuta maculata) is a stout, perennial herb 
growing in wet meadows throughout the United States and Canada. 
The stems are streaked with purple, the leaves are pinnately com- 
pound, the leaflets being oblong-lanceolate and coarsely serrate; 
the flowers are white, occurring in large compound umbles. The 
fruit is ovoid, with prominent ribs and six conspicuous vittae. The 
rhizome is large and fleshy and sometimes mistaken for parsnip. 
The fruits contain a volatile alkaloid, cicutine, which is said to 
resemble coniine, and about 1 per cent of a volatile oil resembling 
oil of cumin. The rhizome, stems and leaves contain a resinous 
substance, cicutoxin, which is said to be quite poisonous. 



CORIANDER 487 

Adulterant. — The leaves of the Lesser Hemlock or Fool's Parsley 
(zEthusa cynapium) have been substituted. The leaflets are rhom- 
boid-oval, deeply lobed, the segments being sometimes further lobed, 
narrow to linear abruptly pointed or blunt. The involucre is usually 
absent, a single bract sometimes being present. The involucels con- 
sist of three long, pendulous, linear awl-shaped stiff bracts. The 
fruit has broad cork-like ribs. — (Ewing, Stanford, Slevenger, Jour. 
A. Ph. A. 1919, 8, p. 385). Power and Tutin obtained a small 
amount of alkaloids resembling those of conium (Jour. Amer. Soc, 
1905, 27, p. 1461). 

Coriandrum. — Coriander. — The dried, ripe fruit of Coriandrum 
sativum (Fam. Umbellif erse) , an annual herb indigenous to the 
Mediterranean and Caucasian region, naturalized in the temperate 
parts of Europe, and cultivated there and in Africa and India. The 
fruit is collected when full giown from cultivated plants, from which 
it is separated by threshing, and dried. The fruits from plants 
grown in Russia and Thuringia are preferred. The young plants, 
particularly the leaves, as well as immature fruits, emit a disagreeable 
odor, whence the name Coriandrum. 

Description. — Mericarps usually coherent; cremocarp (Fig. 209) 
nearly globular, 4 to 5 mm. in diameter, externally light brown or 
rose-colored, with ten prominent, straight, longitudinal primary ribs, 
between which are faint, somewhat undulate secondary ribs, summit 
with 5 calyx teeth and a conical stylopodium about 0.5 mm. in length 
internally with a slender carpophore attached to each mericarp, the 
latter grayish-purple, concavo-convex, with two vittse on the com- 
missural surface; seed plano-convex, with a small embryo at the 
upper end of the reserve layer; odor and taste aromatic. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 209.) An epidermal layer of small thick- 
walled cells; several rows of thin-walled, more or less collapsed 
parenchyma separated from a broad zone of strongly lignified scler- 
enchymatous fibers, which extend as a continuous ring in the meso- 
carp of each of the mericarps; 2 or 3 layers of large, tangentially 
elongated, thin-walled, parenchyma cells, frequently with numerous, 
large, lysigenous, intercellular spaces; inner epidermis of large, tab- 
ular cells, the inner, yellowish walls being considerably thickened 
and closely coherent to the brownish cells of the seed-coat; com- 
missural surface with 2 large elliptical vittse, the cells of the pericarp 
separated from the seed-coat and forming a large elliptical cavity; 
endosperm distinctly reniform in outline and consisting of tabular 
or polygonal, thick-walled cells, containing numerous large aleurone 
grains, each with a rosette aggregate or prism of calcium oxalate. 



488 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Powder. — Light brown ; calcium oxalate crystals numerous, from 
0.003 to 0.010 mm. in diameter, mostly in rosette aggregates, either 
isolated or in aleurone grains; sclerenchymatous fibers irregularly 
curved, having thick, yellowish, lignified walls and numerous simple 
pores; globules of fixed oil numerous; fragments of light-yellow 
vittse few, associated with elongated, polygonal, epidermal cells. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil 0.5 to 1 per cent; fixed oil about 13 
per cent; tannin; calcium oxalate; ash about 5 per cent. The 
volatile oil consists of about 90 per cent of d-linalool (coriandrol), 
about 5 per cent of d-pinene and some other constituents. 




Fig. 209. — Cross-section of a mericarp of conium: c, c, commissural surface; e, 
portion without secondary ribs; o, portion showing slight development of 
secondary rib; o', secondary rib; v, fibro vascular bundle of pericarp (m); 
t, t', layers containing coniine; a, endosperm; b, tissues of the embryo. — 
After Fliickiger. 



The unripe fruits are said to yield a volatile oil that has a fetid, 
disagreeable odor, which it loses on keeping. 

Standard of Purity. — Coriander seed is the dried fruit of Corian- 
drum sativum L. It contains not more than 7 per cent of total ash, 
nor more than 1.5 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. 
(U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Allied Plants. — Bombay or Indian Coriander are the fruits of a 
variety of Coriandrum sativum imported from Bombay. The fruits 
are oval and yield less volatile oil than the official drug. (U. S. 
Dept. Agric.) 



FENNEL 



489 



Fceniculum. — Fennel. — The fruit of Fceniculum vulgare, and 
of the var. dulce (Fam. Umbel liferse), perennial herbs indigenous" to 
the Mediterranean region of Europe and Asia, and cultivated in 
France, Galicia, Germany, Roumania, Russia, India, and Japan. 
The fruit is collected when ripe and dried. That obtained from 
plants cultivated in Germany (Saxony and Thuringia), Galicia and 
Russia is preferred. 

Description. — Mericarps usually separated; cremocarp oblong or 
nearly cylindrical, straight, 4.5 to 8 mm. in length, 2 to 3 mm. in 
diameter, externally yellowish-green, summit with a somewhat 
depressed disk, and a conical stylopodium about 0.5 mm. in length, 
each mericarp with five prominent, yellowish, slightly winged primary 
ribs, internally somewhat greenish-brown, with a slender carpophore 





Fig. 210. — Coriander: A, cremocarp showing remains of two stigmas (a), stylo- 
podia (thickened persistent styles) (6), calyx teeth (c), straight primary ribs 
(d) and wavy, somewhat obscure, secondary ribs (e). B, transverse section 
of the cremocarp showing primary ribs (a), secondary ribs (d), vittae (c) on 
commissural side, and seed (b). — After Bastin. 



attached to each mericarp, the latter unequally 5-angled in cross- 
section, the commissural surface slightly grooved and with two 
vittae, dorsal surface with a single vitta between each of the primary 
ribs; there may be, however, as many as 8 vitta? in each mericarp; 
seed irregularly plano-convex, with a small embryo at the upper 
end of the reserve layer; pedicel 3 to 10 mm. in length; odor and 
taste aromatic. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 211.) An epidermal layer of colorless 
cells which in surface view are rectangular or polygonal; a mesocarp 
consisting of several layers of thin-walled, isodiametric cells, several 
layers of thick-walled cells of a brownish color and inside of which 



490 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



are the fibrovascular bundles, situated below the ribs and the large 
vittae or oil canals between them, being connected with reticulated 
sclerenchymatous cells, the latter being very characteristic of fennel; 
endocarp composed of narrow transversely elongated cells; seed- 
coat consisting of rather broad outer epidermal cells and several rows 
of collapsed or structureless cells, which are only clearly defined in 
the raphe; endosperm pentagonal in transverse section, consisting 
of polyhedral cells, containing an oily cytoplasm and numerous small 
aleurone grains, the latter enclosing small rosette aggregates of cal- 
cium oxalate. 

Powder.— Yellowish-brown; calcium oxalate from 0.001 to 0.002 
mm. in diameter, usually in aleurone grains from 0.003 to 0.006 mm. 




Fig. 211. — A, transverse section through a mericarp of fennel: O, outer epidermis 
of pericarp; /, inner epidermis of pericarp; F, fibrovascular bundles; V, 
vittse or oil canals; S, seed-coat; EN, endosperm. B, isolated aleurone 
grains from cells of endosperm of fennel showing globoids and small rosette 
aggregates of calcium oxalate. C, section through the carpophore, which is 
composed chiefly of sclerenchymatous cells. 



in diameter (Fig. 211); fragments containing yellowish-brown vittae, 
from 0.100 to 0.200 mm. in width; sclerenchymatous fibers few, 
strongly lignified and with numerous oblique, simple pores; paren- 
chyma cells with more or less thick walls and simple pores and 
occasionally reticulately thickened; tracheae few and either spiral 
or annular; in mounts made with solutions of potassium hydroxide 
or hydrated chloral numerous globules of a fixed oil separate. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil 2 to 6.5 per cent; fixed oil about 12 
per cent ; calcium oxalate, and about 7 per cent of ash. 



PARSLEY 491 

The volatile oil of fennel contains 50 to 60 per cent of anethol; 
about 20 per cent of fenchone, which gives the fruit its characteristic 
odor and taste; chavicol (isomer of anethol); anise ketone; anisic 
aldehyde; anisic acid, d-pinene and dipentene. 

The sweet or Roman fennel, obtained from plants (F. dulce) 
cultivated in southern France, has longer and somewhat curved meri- 
carps, and yields about 2 per cent of oil, containing considerable 
anethol but no fenchone. Macedonian fennel oil contains consid- 
erable anethol, some limonene and phellandrene, but no fenchone. 
Wild bitter fennel oil, obtained from wild plants, contains scarcely 
any anethol, but consists in part of phellandrene and fenchone. 

•Standard of Purity. — Fennel seed is the dried fruit of cultivated 
varieties of Fceniculum vulgare Hill. It contains not more than 
9 per cent of total ash, nor more than 2 per cent of ash insoluble in 
hydrochloric acid. (U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Adulterations. — Bitter Fennel, the fruit of Fceniculum piperitum, 
has been substituted. The fruits are much smaller, decidedly bitter, 
and the volatile oil is different in aroma. Fennel is frequently con- 
taminated with wheat screenings, undeveloped fruits, various other 
umbelliferous fruits and dirt. 

Allied Drugs. — The more or less fusiform root of Fceniculum 
vulgare is also used like fennel. It is 8 to 15 cm. in length, of an 
aromatic odor and taste, and contains a volatile oil, resin, starch 
and sugar. 

Petroselintjm. — Fructus Petroselini, Garden or Common Pars- 
ley Fruit. — The ripe fruit of Petroselinum sativum (Fam. Umbelli- 
ferse), a biennial herb, indigenous to southern Europe and Asia Minor 
and extensively cultivated, the leaves being used as a seasoning 
herb for culinary purposes. Pliny states that in his time there 
was not a salad or sauce used upon the table that did not contain 
it. The fruits are gathered in September and October and carefully 
dried. 

Description. — Meri carps usually separated, somewhat crescent- 
shaped, 2 to 3 mm. in length, 1 mm. in diameter; externally grayish- 
brown becoming grayish or brownish on aging, having 5 yellowish, 
filiform, prominent ribs, alternating with the coarsely roughened 
furrows; in transverse section nearly hemispherical, the commis- 
sural surface with 2 vittse, or oil-canals, the dorsal surface usually with 
a single vitta, occasionally 2 vittse, in the grooves between the 
primary ribs; endosperm large, oily, enclosing a small embryo; 
odor and taste characteristic and distinctly aromatic, especially when 
bruised. 



492 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Inner Structure.— (Fig. 212.) An epidermal layer with thick, 
cuticularized papillose walls; several layers of small, thin-walled, 
more or less collapsed parenchyma cells; a single large brown elliptical 
vitta or oil-canal between each of the primary ribs and surrounded 






Fig. 212. — Transverse sections of Umbelliferous fruits: A, fceniculum; B, carum; 
C, anisum; D, conium; E, Apium graveolens; F, petroselinum. O, outer 
epidermis of pericarp; H, non-glandular hairs; V, vittse or oil canals; F, 
fibro vascular bundles; I, inner epidermis of pericarp; Sa, seed-coat; P, 
parenchyma cells of middle layer or sarcocarp; En, endosperm. All of the 
fruits, with the exception of conium show vittae or oil canals. — Drawing by 
Hogstad. , 



by a layer of comparatively large, yellowish-brown, tangentially 
elongated cells; a single fibrovascular bundle between each of the 



CELERY 493 

ribs and more or less surrounded by a few or occasionally numerous, 
sclerenchymatous fibers; inner epidermis of narrow, thin-walled, 
elongated cells closely cohering to the brownish tabular cells of the 
seed-coat ; commissural surface usually with 2 large vittse, a very few 
stone cells and showing a slight separation of pericarp and seed-coat; 
endosperm of polyhedral, thick-walled, parenchyma cells containing 
an oily cytoplasm and numerous small aleurone grains, the latter 
each usually containing a small rosette aggregate of calcium oxalate. 
The vittse usually contain yellowish oil globules or a resin-like mass 
adhering to the walls, and occasionally are divided by radial walls. 

Powder. — Grayish-brown, mostly of large, irregular fragments; 
cells of endosperm with aleurone grains, each usually containing a 
rosette aggregate of calcium oxalate, from 0.003 to 0.007 mm. in 
diameter; fragments with light yellow vittse and the yellowish- 
brown cells of the pericarp; fragments with narrow spiral trachese 
and more or less lignified sclerenchymatous fibers. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil, from 1 to 3 per cent, consisting of a 
camphoraceous substance, apiol, and a terpene, probably 1-pinene; 
a fixed oil, 6 per cent; resinous substances, 5 per cent; mucilage, 7 
per cent; a fat, resembling stearic acid, 16.5 per cent; phyteumacolla, 
combined with potassium salts, 12.5 per cent; protein substances, 
combined with calcium phosphate, 3 per cent; crude fiber, 48.5 per 
cent; ash, 4 to 6 per cent. ' 

Apiol is sometimes obtained from the fruit of the East Indian 
dill, Anethum sowa, and consists of a body heavier than water, and is 
apparently isomeric with the apiol from parsley oil. Dillapiol of 
commerce is a mixture of substances extracted from parsley fruits 
and occurs as a yellow, oily, non-volatile liquid. 

Petroselini Radix. — Garden or Common Parsley Root. — 
The fleshy roots of the Hamburg or turnip-rooted parsely, Petrose- 
linum sativum, are sometimes cooked and eaten like parsnips. 
They also have some medicinal value. The roots are fusiform, 
resembling carrots, and are usually gathered in the fall and cut into 
pieces to facilitate drying. The pieces are light yellowish, having a 
short fracture when dry, and contain numerous yellowish or reddish- 
brown oil secretion canals. The odor is aromatic, and the taste 
sweetish and slightly pungent. It contains a small amount of vola- 
tile oil ; and an amorphous glucoside, known as apiin, which is soluble 
in hot water and alcohol; also starch; and from 3 to 5 per cent 
of ash. 

Apii Fructus. — Celery Fruit or Celery Seed, — The ripe fruit 
of Apium graveolens (Fam. Umbelliferae), a biennial herb, indigenous 



494 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

to England and extensively cultivated throughout the temperate 
regions of Europe and the United States, for its succulent leaf-stalks 
or fleshy roots and in France for its aromatic fruits, all of these 
being used for culinary purposes. The fruits are also used to a 
limited extent in medicine. 

Description. — Mericarps usually separate; cremocarp ovoid, 
laterally flattened, the mericarps being somewhat crescent-shaped, 
from 1 to 2 mm. in length and usually less than 1 mm. in diameter; 
externally dark-brown, having 5 yellowish ribs, alternating with the 
somewhat roughened furrows; in transverse section, nearly regularly 
pentagonal with 2 vittse or oil canals on the commissural side, and 
from 4 to 8 vittse on the dorsal surface, i.e., from 1 to 3 in each of the 
grooves between the primary ribs; endosperm large, oily, enclosing 
a small embryo; odor distinct; taste aromatic, somewhat pungent. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 212.) An epidermal layer of cells,*having 
a thick, slighly papillose cuticle; sarcocarp of several rows of polyg- 
onal cells among which are distributed the large vitta? or oil canals 
(there being usually from 1 to 3 in each of the grooves between the 
primary ribs), and the small fibrovascular bundles consisting of a few 
tracheae, surrounded by a group of strongly lignified sclerenchy- 
matous fibers; endocarp of compressed brownish cells; seed-coat 
consisting of several layers of yellowish-brown, more or less col- 
lapsed cells; endosperm of thick-walled polyhedral cells, containing 
an oily cytoplasm, and numerous aleurone grains, the latter each 
containing a single rosette aggregate of calcium oxalate, from 0.002 
to 0.006 mm. in diameter. 

Constituents. — A colorless volatile oil, from 2.5 to 3 per cent, 
consisting of d-limone and 90 per cent of hydrocarbons. The fresh 
celery leaves yield about 0.1 per cent of a volatile oil, having a 
greenish-yellow color and being soluble, forming a clear solution, with 
10 parts of 90 per cent alcohol. 

Standard of Purity. — Celery seed is the dried fruit of Apium 
graveolens L. It contains not more than 10 per cent of total ash, 
nor more than 2 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. (U. S. 
Dept. Agric.) 

Literature. — Gildemeister and Hoffman (Trans, by Kremers), 
The Volatile Oils, p. 545. 

Angelica Radix. — Angelica Root. — The rhizome and roots 
of Angelica Archangelica (Fam. Umbellif erse) , a biennial plant 
indigenous to northern Europe and Siberia and extensively cultivated 
in Hungary and northern Europe. The large fleshy roots are gath- 
ered in the fall, cut longitudinally into pieces and carefully dried. It 



ANGELICA 495 

should be stored in tightly closed containers, to which a few drops of 
chloroform or carbon tetrachloride should be added from time to 
time, to prevent the development of insects. 

Description. — Rhizome upright, nearly cylindrical, usually split 
into longitudinal pieces, from 5 to 10 cm. in length and from 2 to 3.5 
cm. in diameter; externally dark brown, upper portion with rem- 
nants of attached leaves, which are either of a light brown or purplish- 
red color, more or less annulate from the scars of bud-scales, with a few 
circular root scars and numerous large fleshy roots; internally light 
yellow, cortex about 3 mm. in thickness, light brown, having numer- 
ous radial rows of yellowish or yellowish-red oil canals, wood slightly 
radiate and porous, pith frequently with large apertures containing 
larvae or winged insects; odor strongly aromatic; taste sweetish, 
aromatic and pungent. 

Roots slightly tapering, from 6 to 18 cm. in length and from 3 to 
10 mm. in diameter; externally grayish-brown to reddish-brown, 
longitudinally wrinkled and furrowed, with numerous root scars 
and slender branches; fracture short when dry, tough when damp; 
internally yellowish, cortex with numerous circles of radiating rows 
of oil canals containing glistening globules of oil; wood slightly radiate 
and porous. 

Inner Structure. — A corky layer of thin-walled, reddish-brown 
cells; phelloderm consisting of several rows of collenchymatous 
cells; cortex of starch-bearing parenchyma and usually with large 
diaphragms, due to the separation of the cells in plates from each 
other in the process of drying; phloem consisting of broad wedges 
of leptome, bast parenchyma and radiating rows of large oil cavities; 
the latter are very long, from 0.100 to 0.200 mm. in width, more or 
less equidistant from each other and the epithelial cells, lining the 
canals, are usually surrounded by a layer of thick-walled somewhat 
suberized cells : medullary rays from 3 to 8 cells in width and 10 to 20 
rows in height; xylem consisting of narrow wood wedges (composed 
of wide tracheae, having large lenticular simple pores) and starch- 
bearing parenchyma, the wedges being separated by rather broad, 
starch-bearing medullary rays; the pith of the rhizome consists 
of numerous starch-bearing parenchyma and occasional oil canals; 
the walls of the parenchyma cells, associated with the tracheae, and 
also the cells of the pith are frequently marked by scalariform per- 
forations; starch grains numerous, occurring in the parenchyma and 
cells of the medullary rays in either single or compound grains, the 
individual grains being spheroidal or polyhedral and varying from 
0.004 to 0.008 mm. in diameter. 



496 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Constituents. — Volatile oil from 0.35 to 1 per cent, nearly color- 
less when fresh, becoming yellowish-brown on keeping, and possessing 
an aromatic odor resembling a mixture of pepper and musk. It 
contains a terpene having the odor of pepper, phellandrene, cymol, 
etc. Angelica also contains 6 per cent of resin; angelic acid, 0.3 per 
cent; a bitter principle; a crystalline substance resembling hydro- 
carotin, and known as angelicin; valeric acid; tannic acid; starch; 
cane sugar; and ash from 6 to 8 per cent. 

Angelicae Fructus. — Angelica Fruit, commonly referred to as 
Angelica seed, has been used in medicine. It consists of the ripe 
fruits of Angelica Archangelica. The cremocarps are ovoid, pale 
yellowish-brown, from 4 to 8 mm. in length, flattened upon the com- 
missural face, and in transverse section show 6 large vittse or oil canals; 
the odor and taste are similar to Angelica root. They yield about 1 
per cent of a volatile oil having a similar composition to that obtained 
from the roots. 

Herba Angelicae. — The dried leaves and flowering tops, of Angelica 
Archangelica, yield about 0.1 per cent of a volatile oil and are used 
similarly as the roots and fruits of Angelica. 

Sumbul. — The dried rhizome and roots of Ferula Sumbul (Fam. 
Umbellifera?) , a perennial herb indigenous to Turkestan. The drug 
is exported by way of Petrograd, and is commonly known as musk- 
root. 

Description. — In cylindrical, sometimes branched, transverse 
segments, 3 to 10 cm. in length and 1.5 to 7 cm. in diameter, very 
light; externally light to dark brown, distinctly annulate, periderm 
easily separable; the upper part of the rhizome with occasional cir- 
cular scars and leaf -remnants consisting of stout fibers; fracture 
short, fibrous but irregular ; internally, light yellow, resinous, spongy, 
porous, arrangement of wood irregular, due to anomalous secondary 
cambiums, bark dark brown, about 0.5 mm. in thickness; odor 
musk-like; taste bitter, pungent. 

Inner Structure. — Epidermal cells having yellowish-brown walls; 
thick cortex consisting of the irregularly twisted tissues of leptome and 
parenchyma, among which are the large, uniseriate, oleo-resinous 
secretion canals; xylem made up of easily separable radiate wood 
wedges, between which are the starch-bearing medullary rays and 
oleo-resin canals, the latter containing a reddish brown or brownish- 
black resinous substance, similar to that found in the canals of the 
cortex; pith small. 

Powder. — Grayish-brown or dark brown; tracheae, from 0.030 
to 0.100 mm. in width, and having scalariform perforations, occa- 



ASAFETIDA 497 

sionally simple pores; large irregular brownish-black fragments of 
oleo-resinous secretion canals; occasional fragments of yellowish- 
brown epidermal cells; numerous yellowish-brown and reddish- 
brown fragments of oleo-resin; long, narrow fragments consisting of 
more or less collapsed leptome or sieve tissue; occasional fragments 
of well-defined parenchyma with a few nearly spheroidal starch 
grains, from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. in diameter. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil having the taste of peppermint, from 
0.3 to 1 per cent; two balsamic resins, one soluble in alcohol and 
having the door and taste of the root, the other soluble in ether; 
umbelliferon; a bitter principle; fixed oil 17 per cent; ash about 8 
per cent; starch and several acids, as angelic, valerianic and methyl 
crotonic. 

Literature. — Heyl and Hart, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1916, 88, p. 546. 

Asafetida. — Asafoetida, Asa Fcetida. — A gum resin obtained 
from the roots of Ferula Asafoetida, Ferula fcetida and other species 
of Ferula (Fam. Umbellif era?) , perennial herbs, indigenous to eastern 
Persia and western Afghanistan. Asafetida is obtained by incising 
the crown of the root, when the gum resin exudes, hardens and is then 
scraped from the root. It is exported by way of Bombay. 

Description. — In irregular masses composed of tears, from 1 to 
2.5 cm. in diameter, which when fresh are tough, yellowish-white and 
translucent or milky white and opaque, changing gradually to pinkish 
and finally reddish-brown, and becoming, on drying, hard and brittle; 
internally yellowish and translucent or milky white and opaque; 
odor persistent, alliaceous; taste bitter, alliaceous and acrid. 

Asafetida has been offered on the market in the form of a soft 
mass, sometimes almost semi-liquid. 

Asafetida yields a milk-white emulsion when triturated with water, 
which becomes yellowish on the addition of solutions of the alkalies. 
Treated with strong hydrochloric acid, the filtrate gives a blue fluor- 
escence on making it alkaline with ammonia water (distinguishing it 
from ammoniac) . The freshly fractured tears give a greenish color 
on the application of a few drops of 40 per cent nitric acid solu- 
tion (distinguishing it from galbanum). 

Not less than 60 per cent of Asafetida should dissolve in alcohol. 
The alcoholic solution becomes cherry-red, upon the addition of a 
few drops of a solution of phloroglucinol and a few drops of hydro- 
chloric acid. An alcoholic solution of Asafetida becomes olive green, 
upon the addition of a solution of ferric chloride (absence of most 
foreign resins). An alcoholic solution of Asafetida is colored bluish- 
green upon the addition of a few drops of hydrochloric acid, the 



498 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 213. — Asafetida. X-ray photographs of several kinds of Asafetida, the 
dark colored fragments being inorganic substances, through which the X- 
rays do not penetrate. A, mass of ordinary gum resin with considerable 
inorganic material. B, selected tears, which are almost wholly soluble in 
alcohol. C, stony Asafetida, consisting of fragments of gypsum which have 
been coated with a thin layer of Asafetida.— After Wilbert. 



AMMONIAC 499 

color fading upon standing (absence of galbanum). An aqueous 
emulsion is not colored red upon the addition of a solution of sodium 
hypobromite (absence of ammoniac). A petroleum benzin solution 
should not give a bluish-green color upon shaking it with a solution 
(1 in 20) of copper acetate (detection of colophony). 

In order to powder Asafetida it is dried at a temperature not 
higher than 30° C. or placed over freshly burnt lime. It is com- 
minuted, preferably at a low temperature, and diluents of starch of 
magnesium carbonate are sometimes added, in order to preserve it 
in the powdered form. It should be kept in tightly closed bottles. 
In a glycerin mount the powder shows irregular grayish (or gray 
streaked with brown) fragments which are opaque and become milky 
white on the edge from the presence of oil. 

Constituents. — About 60 per cent of a reddish-brown amor- 
phous resin (consisting of the ferulaic ester of asa-resinotannol) 
yielding on dry distillation umbelliferon; on treatment with sul- 
phuric acid, resorcin, and on fusion with potassium hydrate, pro- 
tocatechuic acid; from 3 to 6.7 per cent of a volatile oil, consisting 
in part of.hexenyl sulphide, hexenyl disulphide, pinene and cadinene, 
and to which the odor of the drug is due; about 1.28 per cent of feru- 
laic acid (chemically related to vanillin, eugenol and cinnamic acid) 
which occurs in iridescent, tasteless, odorless needles and yields on 
fusion with potassium hydroxide, acetic, oxalic and protocatechuic 
acids. The drug also contains 0.06 per cent of vanillin; 0.60 per 
cent of free asa-resinotannol, and formic, acetic, valerianic and malic 
acids; and ash 5 to 10 per cent. 

Adulterants. — Asafetida frequently contains other gum resins as 
galbanum or ammoniac, colophony or fragments of vegetable tissues, 
red clay, sand and stones; it is sometimes adulterated with dirty 
white, gritty masses of gypsum, at other times with barley or wheat 
flour or translucent gums. Recently it has been adulterated with 
pieces of rose-colored marble. 

Ammoniacum. — Gummiresina Ammoniacum, Ammoniac. — A 
gum-resinous exudation from Dorema Ammoniacum (Fam. Umbel- 
liferae), a perennial herb indigenous to central and eastern Persia 
and the deserts near the Arabian Sea. The gum-resin occurs in 
secretion canals throughout the plant, and exudes as a result of insect- 
punctures and hardens upon the stems and petioles. Most of the 
drug is sent to Bombay, where it is garbled, and then shipped to 
London and various points in Europe. 

Description. — In irregular, somewhat rounded tears, from 5 to 
20 mm. in diameter, occasionally agglutinated into larger masses; 



500 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

externally pale yellowish-brown, brittle when cold and breaking with 
a flat, conchoidal and waxy fracture; internally yellowish-white or 
light yellowish-brown; odor distinct; taste bitter and acrid. 

When triturated with water it yields a yellowish-white emulsion, 
becoming reddish-violet upon the addition of a few drops of a solu- 
tion of ferric chloride. The aqueous emulsion is colored yellowish, 
becoming brown upon the addition of a solution of sodium hydrate. 
If 1 part of finely powdered ammoniac is boiled with 15 parts of 
hydrochloric acid, the solution filtered, and ammonia water added 
until there is an excess, the solution should not show a blue fluores- 
cence (absence of galbanum). 

Constituents. — A volatile oil, from 0.2 to 0.4- per cent; an acid 
resin (which is an ester of ammoresinotannol and salicylic acid) and, 
an indifferent resin, from 60 to 70 per cent; a gum resembling acacia, 
from 12 to 16 per cent; a trace of free salicylic acid; several volatile 
acids, acetic and caproic; ash from 2 to 10 per cent. None of the 
constituents contain either sulphur or umbelliferon. 

Galbanum. — Gummiresina Galbanum, Galbanum-Gummiharz, 
— A gum-resinous exudation from Ferula galbaniflua and prob- 
ably other species of Ferula (Fam. Umbelliferae), perennial herbs 
indigenous to the prairies of northern and western Persia and Afghan- 
istan. The gum-resin occurs in schizogenous secretion canals 
throughout the plant and exudes as a result of natural wounds to the 
trees, the exudation being sometimes facilitated by incising the stems 
above the roots. The product is collected, shipped to either Asia 
Minor or Bombay, whence it is exported to London, Trieste, and 
Marseilles. 

Description. — Occurring in irregular masses, occasionally in 
tears, usually admixed with fragments of vegetable tissues; from 0.5 
to 7 cm. in diameter; externally bluish -green or orange-brown to 
almost brownish-black, somewhat oily on the surface; becoming 
soft and sticky by the heat of the hand; when cold, dry and brittle; 
fracture somewhat granular and waxy; internally light yellow 
or grayish-brown and shiny; odor balsamic; taste bitter and 
acrid. 

Galbanum is only partly soluble in water or alcohol. When 
triturated with water, it yields a turbid milky fluid, which upon the 
addition of a drop of ammonia water, assumes a bluish fluorescence. 
Upon boiling galbanum with hydrochloric acid and allowing the 
solution to stand for an hour it becomes of a bright red color, changing 
to dark violet upon the addition of an equal amount of alcohol and 
heating to 60° C. 



WATER HEMLOCK 501 

In order to powder galbanum the same means are employed as 
described under asafetida. 

Constituents. — A volatile oil, 9.5 per cent; a resin soluble in 
alcohol, 63.5 per cent, which consists of 20 per cent of combined um- 
belliferon, 50 per cent of galbaresinotannol, and 0.25 per cent of free 
umbelliferon; gum and impurities, 27 per cent; and ash, 16 to 20 
per cent. 

iETHUSA Cynapium. — Fool's Parsley. — This umbelliferous plant 
is indigenous to Europe and a common garden weed in the north- 
ern United States and Canada. Many cases of poisoning have been 
attributed to the misuse of the leaves of this plant for parsley. 
It contains a volatile alkaloid, resembling coniine in its physical and 
chemical properties. It also contains a small amount of d-mannitol. 
— Power, Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 1905, p. 1461. 

CEnanthe Crocata. — European Water Hemlock. — A common 
European plant (Fam. Umbelliferse), growing in wet and marshy 
places, and even growing in water. The roots, from their resemblance 
to parsnips, have been the cause of frequent and sometimes fatal 
poisoning. It has been used with beneficial results for the poisoning 
of rats and moles. The poisonous property appears to reside in the 
neutral portions of the petroleum and ether extracts of the resin. 
It does not contain an alkaloid. The constituents of the plant, 
besides considerable amounts of cane sugar, dextrose and lsevulose 
were found to comprise a volatile oil ; a colorless crystalline substance, 
which, on keeping, assumed a purple color; salicylic acid; triacon- 
tane; pentriacontane ; a phytosterol; a phytosterol glucoside; and 
a mixture of fatty acids. — Power, Pharm. Jour., 1911 (87), p. 296. 

Cicuta Maculata. — American Water Hemlock. — A biennial, 
umbelliferous plant growing in wet and marshy places of the northern 
United States and Canada. It produces a cluster of thick tuberous 
roots, a hollow, somewhat purplish stem, attaining a height of 1 to 
2 m., bearing pinnately compound leaves and large umbels of white 
flowers. This plant is probably responsible for more cases of poison- 
ing in the United States than any other plants apart from the poison- 
ous Amanitas. The herbage is often destructive to cattle and many 
children have eaten the leaves mistaking them for sweet cicely 
(Osmorhiza) or Angelica, and the fleshy roots have been mistaken for 
parsnips and Jerusalem artichokes. For illustrations of the habit 
and inner structure of this plant, consult Kraemer's Applied and 
Economic Botany, p. 642. It is said that the root, when dried, loses 
its active principle. The toxic constituent appears to be a yellowish 
amorphous substance, cicutoxine. It also contains a volatile oil 



502 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

and umbelliferon. The fruits of Cicuta yield from 3.8 to 4.8 per cent 
of a volatile oil, having an odor resembling chenopodium. They 
also contain a volatile alkaloid, resembling coniine, which is said 
to be present in the stems and leaves. 

CORNACE^, OR DOGWOOD FAMILY 

A small family of shrubs and trees, comprising 85 species. The 
leaves are simple or opposite, and the flowers are arranged in cymes 
or heads, which in the case of the flowering dogwood (Cornus florida) 
are subtended by 4 large, petal-like, white or pinkish bracts. Among 
the histological characters, the following may be mentioned. The 
pericycle contains either isolated groups of bast fibers or it is made up 
of a composite and continuous ring of sclerenchyma. The tracheae 
possess very narrow lumina and are marked by scalariform perfora- 
tions. The walls of the wood fibers possess either simple or bordered 
pores. The medullary rays are from 1 to 5 cells in width. Secre- 
tory elements are seldom present, although in Nyssa secretory cells 
occur in the leaves, and in Mastixia secretory canals are found in the 
pith. The epidermal cells of both leaf surfaces are provided with 
papilla?, and the w r alls are sometimes metamorphosed to mucilage. 
A distinct hypodermal layer is not infrequently developed beneath 
the upper surface of the leaf, and occasionally special idioblasts, 
containing crystals are developed. Calcium oxalate is usually 
secreted in form of rosette aggregates, solitary crystals, or micro- 
crystals. The non-glandular hairs are mostly unicellular and are 
sometimes provided with verrucose thickenings of the cuticle. 
Glandular hairs of a number of special forms are present. 

Cornus. — Dogwood Bark. — The bark of the flowering dogwood, 
Cornus florida (Fam. Cornacese), a small tree quite common in dry 
woods of the eastern United States and Canada, producing in the 
spring, clusters of small flowers surrounded by an involucre, consisting 
of 4 corolla-like bracts; and in the fall a cluster of scarlet, drupaceous 
fruits. The bark of both the stem and roots is used to a limited 
extent in medicine and was employed, during colonial times, as a 
substitute for cinchona. The root bark is preferred. It is usually 
collected in the fall and carefully dried. 

Description. — Root bark, in quills • or transversely curved, chip- 
like fragments, from 0.5 to 5 cm. in length, 0.5 to 1 cm. in width, bark 
1 to 4 mm. in thickness; externally dark or reddish-brown, longitu- 
dinally furrowed, more or less scaly, and occasionally transversely 
fissured; inner surface pinkish- or purplish-brown, distinctly striate, 



DOGWOOD 503 

with prominent lenticular elevations; fracture short; outer bark 
light brown having yellowish stone cells, inner bark light purplish- 
brown; odor slight; taste bitter and astringent. The stem bark 
usually occurs in quills having externally a dark gray or reddish-brown 
color and internally a thin, radiate, whitish inner bark. 

Inner Structure. — Several layers of thick-walled pericambial cork, 
having in the thinner pieces the remnants of an endodermis, the 
outer walls of the latter being considerably thickened; primary cor- 
tex of several layers of thin-walled parenchyma containing either 
starch or tannin; inner bark of wedges of leptome and parenchyma 
separated by starch-bearing medullary rays, 1 cell in width. The 
stem bark is distinguished by the presence of solitary crystals of 
calcium oxalate in the parenchyma cells of the cortex; and by the 
presence in the inner bark of several interrupted circles of tangen- 
tially elongated groups of bast fibers. The fragments of wood show 
spiral tracheae, tracheids, and thick-walled wood fibers. 

Constituents. — A crystalline bitter principle, cornin, which is 
soluble in water and alcohol; a tasteless resin, insoluble in water 
and soluble in hot alcohol; tannic acid, 3 per cent; gallic acid; and 
an orange-colored fixed oil. The so-called cornin is a hydro-alcoholic 
extract prepared from the drug and is a mixture of principles. 

Literature. — Holm, Merck's Report, 1909, p. 318. 

ERICACEAE, OR HEATH FAMILY 

A large family of nearly 1500 species, mostly erect or prostrate 
shrubs, occasionally small trees, or sometimes herbs, and of very 
wide geographic distribution. The plants vary in their morphological 
characters, the leaves being deciduous or evergreen, the flowers regu- 
lar or nearly so, and the fruit a capsule, berry or drupe. The tracheae 
usually have small lumina, and the walls are provided with either 
scalariform perforations, bordered or simple pores. The wood 
and bast fibers have as a rule bordered pores. Calcium oxalate is 
secreted in the form of rosette aggregates or solitary crystals. Both 
glandular and non-glandular hairs occur of a variety of forms. 

The family can be divided on morphological grounds into 3 sub- 
families. 1. The Ericaceae proper, in the flowers of which the 
calyx is free from the ovary, and the stomata are surrounded by more 
than 2 epidermal cells. This sub-family includes Rhododendron, 
Kalmia, Epigsea, Gaultheria, and other heath-like plants. 2. The 
Vacciniace^e, or whortle-berry sub-family, in the flowers of which 
the calyx adheres to the ovary, the latter developing into an edible 



504 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

berry-like fruit, surmounted by the short calyx teeth. The plants 
of this family are furthermore distinguished by the stomata having 
2 neighboring or subsidiary cells which lie parallel to the pore. This 
sub-family includes the bluebeny and huckleberry plants. 3. The 
Monotropace^e, or Indian pipe sub-family. These well-known 
saprophytes are free from chlorophyll and include the Indian pipe 
and beech drops. Some writers divide the Ericaceae, by placing those 
plants in which the flowers have a polypetalous corolla into a sub- 
family by themselves. The latter include the Pyrolace^e, which 
comprises about 20 species, including Pyrola, Chimaphila and pos- 
sibly 2 other genera. 

Chimaphila. — Pipsissewa or Prince's Pine. — The dried leaves 
of Chimaphila umbellata (Fam. Ericaceae, sub-fam. Pyrolaceae), a 
perennial herb indigenous to the United States and southern Canada 
and northern Europe and Siberia. 

Description. — Lanceolate or oblanceolate, 2.5 to 5 cm. in length, 
8 to 18 mm. in breadth; summit obtuse or acute; base acute or 
cuneate; margin sharply serrate; upper surface dark green, not 
mottled, glabrous, shiny; midrib and veins depressed, the latter 
diverging at an angle of about 60° and uniting with each other near 
the margin; under surface yellowish-green; petiole about 1 mm. in 
length; texture coriaceous, brittle; odor slight; taste astringent, 
bitter. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 214. 

Powder. — Yellowish-green, or dark green; calcium oxalate in 
rosette aggregates, from 0.035 to 0.060 mm. in diameter; character- 
istic thick-walled cells of the lower epidermis having broadly elliptical 
stomata, which lack subsidiary cells; mesophyll containing plastids; 
parenchyma containing irregular, reddish-brown masses containing 
tannin; sclerenchymatous fibers of stem with relatively thick walls 
associated with spiral or annular tracheae; also fragments containing 
a purplish pigment which is colored yellowish-red with acids and 
bright green with alkalies. 

Arbutin is a bitter glucoside, which crystallizes in needles or prisms, 
and the cells containing it may be determined by the use of nitric 
acid, which colors them orange-yellow to dark reddish-brown. It 
occurs distributed in the cells of the loose mesophyll and palisade 
layers of Chimaphila. Arbutin yields, upon hydrolysis, glucose and 
hydrochinon. The latter substance is sublimable, and may be easily 
obtained as a microsublimate. The sections of the leaves of Chim- 
aphila, or a small quantity of the powdered leaves, are first treated 
with a few drops of dilute hydrochloric acid or a solution of emulsin. 



PIPSISSEWA 



505 



If the material thus treated is placed upon a watch crystal, which is 
covered with another watch crystal, or a slide and gently heated upon 
an iron plate, or a strip of asbestos, a microsublimate of hydrochinon 
may be collected. The latter consists of long monoclinic rods and 



^o^OCX^X) 



^f^o5oobo& 



^55^ 





Fig. 214. — Chimaphila umbellata: A, transverse section of an aerial internode: 
Ep, thick-walled, somewhat papillose epidermal cells; H, hypodermis 
composed of thick-walled collenchymatous cells; P, cortex of parenchyma 
traversed by very wide air-spaces (A), due to the separation of the cells 
in several of the middle layers. The parenchyma contains chloroplastids 
which are not here shown; and in the air-spaces in alcoholic material there 
are usually numerous sphaero-crystals. B, transverse section of a portion 
of the pith of an internode, showing the moderately thickened parenchyma, 
intermixed with very thin-walled, irregular cells, which contain rosette 
aggregates of calcium oxalate. C, transverse section of the ventral epi- 
dermis showing the heavily thickened outer walls. D, surface view of the 
dorsal epidermis showing the thick, porous walls of the epidermal cells, and 
the characteristic stomata which lack subsidiary cells. The guard cells of 
the stomata are slightly raised above the surrounding epidermis, and the 
wide air-chambers are very shallow. — After Holm, Merck's Report, 1909 
p. 143. 



feather-like aggregates, which polarize light with a brilliant play of 
colors. Among confirmatory tests the following may be employed. 



506 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

The sublimate crystals, under a cover glass, are slowly soluble in cold 
water; very soluble in warm water, alcohol, ether or acetone. From 
the latter solution, hydrochinon crystallizes in prisms. The crys- 
tals are furthermore colored reddish-brown with ammonia water, and 
light green with a solution of ferric salts. 

Constituents. — A neutral, tasteless principle, chimaphilin, occur- 
ring in golden-yellow needles; two glucosides — arbutin and ericolin 
(see Uva-Ursi); several other crystalline principles; a volatile oil; 
tannin 4 to 5 per cent ; calcium oxalate ; ash about 5 per cent. 

Uva-Ursi. — Red Bearberry. — The leaves of Arctostaphylos 
Uva-Ursi (Fam. Ericacese), a procumbent shrub indigenous to 
Europe, Asia and the northern United States and Canada. 

Description. — Obovate, spatulate, 18 to 30 mm. in length, 6 to 
10 mm. in breadth; summit obtuse; base acute, tapering; margin 
entire, slightly re volute; upper surface dark green, glabrous, finely 
reticulate; under surface yellowish-green; petiole about 3 mm. 
in length, slightly pubescent; texture coriaceous, brittle; odor slight; 
taste slightly bitter, astringent. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 215. 

Arbutin is localized in the loose mesophyll and palisade layers 
of the leaves and in the sub-epidermal layers of the petioles and 
stems. Its presence may be determined by the use of nitric acid, 
which colors the cells bright yellow or dark orange, the color gradually 
fading. Vanillic acid colors the cells bright red, distinguishing it 
from the leaves of Vaccinium myrtillus. Sections of leaves of Uva- 
Ursi are colored bluish-black, with freshly prepared solutions of fer- 
rous sulphate, distinguishing them from the leaves of Vaccinium Vitis- 
Idsea. The presence of arbutin may also be determined in the leaves, 
by the methods of microsublimation already given under Chimaphila. 

Powder. — Yellowish-green to olive-green ; fragments of polygonal 
epidermal cells associated with broadly elliptical stomata, about 0.035 
mm. in length, surrounded by 5 to 8 neighboring cells; cells of meso- 
phyll with chloroplastids and frequently irregular masses of a car- 
bohydrate; fragments of fibro vascular bundles having spiral tracheae, 
and narrow, strongly lignified sclerenchymatous fibers, frequently 
also associated with crystal fibers having monoclinic prisms, from 
0.006 to 0.015 mm. in diameter; numerous fragments made up of 
cells having a yellowish-brown content which are colored a bluish- 
black upon the addition of a freshly prepared solution of ferrous sul- 
phate. 

Constituents. — Two glucosides — arbutin and ericolin; a crystal- 
line, resinous principle, ursone; tannin about 5 per cent; gallic acid; 



UVA-UESI 



507 







Fig. 215. — Arctostaphylos Uva-Ursi. A, transverse section of part of the stem: 
C, cells of cortex; St, pericycle composed of sclerenchymatous fibers; L, 
leptome; H, tracheae; Mp, a medullary ray. B, transverse section of petiole; 
Coll, collenchyma; P, large elliptical plates of parenchyma containing chloro- 
plasts; L, leptome; H, hadrome or woody portion of the bundle. C, trans- 
verse section of leaf: Ed, dorsal or lower epidermis; P, loose mesophyll, the 
cells of which, near the epidermis are palisade-like and toward the center of 
the blade are more nearly isodiametric. D, transverse section of ventral 
portion of midrib: Ep, epidermal cells; P, cells containing chloroplasts; 
Coll, collenchyma; St, stereome; H, hadrome-parenchyma. E, transverse 
section of dorsal portion of midrib: L, portion of leptome; the other letters 
as in D. F, surface view of epidermal cells, showing the stomata and sur- 
rounding cells, which are alike on both surfaces of the leaf blade. G, one 
of the thin-walled glandular hairs of the stem. — After Holm, Merck's Report 
1911, p. 95. 



508 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

ellagic acid; a yellow, crystalline coloring principle; calcium oxalate; 
ash about 3 per cent. 

Arbutin forms colorless, bitter needles, which are soluble in water 
and alcohol, the solutions be'.ng colored azure blue upon the addition 
of an alkali followed by phosphomolybdic acid. It yields on hydroly- 
sis hydroquinone (arctuvin) and methyl hydroquinone (see also 
Chimaphila) . 

Ericolin is a yellow, hygroscopic, bitter substance, which yields 
on hydrolysis the volatile oil ericinol. Ursone occurs in tasteless 
needles insoluble in water and capable of being sublimed. 

Allied Plants. — Various other species of Arctostaphylos contain 
principles similar to Uva-Ursi. The leaves of trailing arbutus 
(Epigaea repens) contain ericolin and possibly arbutin. Ericolin 
occurs in a number of species of Ledum and Rhododendron, and 
European huckleberry (Vaccinium myrtillus), small cranberry 
(Oxy coccus palustris) and heather (Calluna vulgaris), all of Europe. 
The two latter plants are naturalized in New Jersey, the New Eng- 
land States and eastern Canada. A number of species of Rhododen- 
dron contain, in addition to andromedotoxin, the same principles 
found in Uva-Ursi. Marsh tea or narrow-leaved Labrador tea 
(Ledum palustre), growing in the northeastern United States and 
Canada, as well as northern Europe and Asia, contains ericolin, arbu- 
tin, an ethereal oil (the principal component of which is Ledum cam- 
phor), valerianic, acetic and butyric acids. 

The leaves of Empetrum nigrum contain resin, benzoic acid, 
tannin, a wax, fructose and probably rutin. (Van Itallie, Jour. 
Pharm. et Chim., 1918, vii, 18, p. 180. 

Literature.— Tunmann, Pharm. Zeit., 1906, p.. 757; Pharm. 
Zentralb., 1906, p. 945. 

Gaultheria.— Folia Gaultheriae, Spring or Creeping Wintergreen, 
Aromatic Wintergreen, Teaberry or Checkerberry. — The leaves 
of Gaultheria procumbens (Fam. Ericaceae), a low, shrub-like peren- 
'nial, producing slender creeping or subterranean stems, the branches 
ascending and from 5 to 15 cm. in height. The leaves are alternate 
and evergreen, the flowers are white, and axillary, and the fruit is a 
bright red, globular, aromatic berry. The plant is exceedingly com- 
mon in coniferous woods throughout the eastern United States and 
Canada. 

The chief interest of this plant lies in its volatile oil, which is 
obtained by steam distillation. The chief sources of supply at one 
time were the New England States; it is now, however, obtained 
from New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Maryland. 



WINTERGREEN 



509 



The plants are collected, chopped into small pieces, mixed with water 
and allowed to stand for about 12 hours, when distillation is effected 
by means of a copper still. The oil is generally further purified by 
rectification. Owing to the demand for this oil and the high prices 
obtained for it, it is frequently substituted by oil of birch and adul- 
terated with methyl salicylate. The leaves were used at one time in 
medicine, but they have been nearly entirely supplanted by the oil. 
Description. — Leaves oblong or obovate, from 2.5 to 5 cm. in 
length, and from 1.3 to 3 cm. in breadth; summit acute, mucronate 
tipped; margin slightly revolute and serrate with bristle tipped teeth; 
coriaceous; upper surface dark green and shining, the midrib slightly 
raised, or depressed, under surface pale green, with 3 to 4 pairs of 





Fig. 216. — Gaultheria proeumbens: A, entire plant showing horizontally creep- 
ing stolons and solitary axillary flowers. B, flower showing hypocrateri- 
form corolla. C, stamen. D, young fruit. E, section of fruit showing the 
baccate or berry-like calyx which encloses the true fruit or capsule. F, 
leaf showing venation. G, cross-section of leaf showing epidermis (e), three 
layers of palisade cells (p), and chlorenchyma (c). H, cross-section of margin 
of leaf showing in addition a large group of sterome cells. — After Holm. 



veins of the first order which diverge at an angle from 10° to 50° from 
the midrib and unite with each other near the margin; odor distinct, 
aromatic ; taste aromatic and astringent. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 216. 

Constituents. — From 0.5. to 1 per cent of a volatile oil, con- 
sisting chiefly of methyl salicylate. The oil also contains 1 per 
cent of the following constituents: tricontane; an aldehyde or 



510 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

ketone having an odor like cenanthic aldehyde; cenanthic alcohol; 
an ester which splits up into cenanthic alcohol and an acid resulting 
by oxidation from the cenanthic ketone. (Enanthic alcohol and its 
ester possess the characteristic odor which distinguishes true oil of 
gaultheria from the artificial methyl salicylate. 
Literature— Holm, Merck's Report, 1908, p. 1. 

SAPOTACE^), OR GUTTA-PERCHA FAMILY 

A family of about 300 species of tropical trees and shrubs. The 
leaves are alternate and evergreen, the flowers are regular bisexual 
and occur in the axils of the leaves, and the fruits are berries. The 
plants are especially characterized by the presence of laticiferous sacs, 
which occur in rows and are distributed in the pith and cortex, and 
accompany the vascular bundles throughout the veins of the leaves. 
The latex is composed of irregular, doubly refracting, amorphous 
masses of caoutchouc, which when collected and dried furnishes the 
gutta-percha of commerce. To this family also belongs Achras 
Sapota, known as the sapodilla tree or " bully-tree," which is indig- 
enous to tropical America, and furnishes the sapodilla plum. The 
latter resembles a russet apple in color and size, and possesses a milky 
acrid juice which disappears when the fruit matures and it develops a 
sweet taste and is edible. The seeds of the sapodilla are sometimes 
used in medicine and the latex obtained from the tree is used in the 
manufacture of a chewing gum. 

Gutta Percha. — Gutta Pertscha or Gummi Plasticum. — The 
concrete, milky exudation of a number of species of Palaquium, 
and 1 or 2 species of Payena (Fam. Sapotaceae), evergreen trees, 
indigenous to Indo-China and the East Indies. The laticiferous sacs 
occur in the pith of the tree, and there are various methods for col- 
lecting the latex, the most usual being to fell the trees, and make a 
series of incisions, about 3 cm. in depth through the bark to permit 
the flow of the latex, which is then collected in suitable receptacles. 
The product solidifies forming a more or less porous mass. This is 
then placed in hot water and kneaded, so as to remove the wood and 
other grosser impurities. It is then converted into large blocks, 
weighing from 10 to 20 K., which are shipped to Singapore and thence 
sent to London. It is estimated that a single tree will yield from 
1.5 to 8 K. of gutta percha. 

The crude gutta percha, which is imported, contains considerable 
impurities, as fragments of wood and even a quantity of sand, and is 
further purified before it is finally distributed. 



GUTTA PERCHA 511 

Description. — Purified gutta percha comes in flattened pieces of 
variable sizes, and about 8 mm. in thickness; it is hard, rather 
leathery, somewhat flexible and elastic, sinking in water, becoming 
plastic at 65° C. and very soft, capable of being kneaded at a tempera- 
ture of boiling water, and on cooling assumes its original form. 
Externally, it is yellowish, grayish-brown or dark brown; porous, 
somewhat fibrous and may be readily cut with a knife ; internally it is 
grayish-white to reddish-yellow and frequently with reddish-brown 
streaks of darker colored material; odor slight and somewhat 
unpleasant. 

Gutta percha also occurs in the form of cylindrical sticks from 3 to 

5 mm. in thickness, having a white, grayish-white or yellowish color 
and being somewhat pliable and elastic. 

Gutta percha is usually preserved under water, as when exposed 
to the air it becomes brittle. It is insoluble in water, cold alcohol, 
ether, dilute acids and dilute solutions of the alkalies. About 90 
per cent is soluble in chloroform, carbon tetrachloride, carbon disul- 
phide, petroleum ether and oil of turpentine. It is partly soluble in 
boiling alcohol, and the filtrate, on cooling and evaporating, leaves a 
crystalline residue. Gutta percha is not acted on by acetic or 
hydrochloric acid; on the other hand sulphuric or nitric acid slowly 
dissolve it. 

Constituents. — From 80 to 85 per cent of an amorphous hydro- 
carbon, gutta, which is soluble in chloroform, ether, petroleum ether, 
paraffin oil, fixed and volatile oils. Two oxidation products of gutta 
viz., (a) alban, from 4 to 16 per cent, which occurs as a whitish 
amorphous resin, and is soluble in hot alcohol ; (6) fluavil, from 4 to 

6 per cent, a yellowish amorphous resin, soluble in cold alcohol. It 
also contains a complex product, guttan, which seems to resemble 
gutta; and ash, from 3 to 5 per cent. Crude gutta percha contains 
in addition a small quantity of tannic acid and a sugar-like substance. 

Literature. — Zornig, Arzneidrogen. 

STYRACACE^:, OR STYRAX FAMILY 

A small family of about 75 species of trees and shrubs, mostly 
indigenous to tropical South America, a few representatives being 
found in the southern United States. The leaves are mostly simple 
and alternate, the flowers are regular and either in axillary clusters 
or racemes, and the fruit is either a berry, a drupe or a capsule. 
Very many of the plants contain a benzoic resin. This occurs in 
lysigenous, intercellular secretory receptacles, which develop in the 



512 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

wood and bark as a result of certain pathological phenomena. Among 
special histological characters the following are of some importance. 
The cork originates either in, or below the pericycle, the latter usually 
containing isolated groups of bast fibers. The walls of the tracheae 
possess scalariform perforations or simple pores, and the wood fibers 
are usually marked by bordered pores. The stomata on the leaves 
are usually unaccompanied by subsidiary cells, although when 
present they are parallel to the pore. Non-glandular hairs are either 
stellate or in the form of peltate scales. Calcium oxalate is secreted 
in the form of ordinary crystals or as rosette aggregates. Glandular 
hairs are wanting. 

Benzoinum. — Benzoin. — A balsamic resin obtained from Styrax 
Benzoin, and probably other species of Styrax (Fam. Styracacese), 
trees indigenous to Java, Sumatra and Siam. The resin flows from 
incisions made in the bark, hardens, and is then collected, the com- 
mercial varieties being known as Siam and Sumatra Benzoin, the 
former being preferred. The composition of the resin varies according 
to the age of the tree, the youngest trees yielding the best product. 
The constituents of the commercial resin are not found in the tissues 
of the tree, but appear to develop as a pathological product due to an 
injury of the trees resulting from the manner of incising the bark, 
although probably the exposure of the resin to the air has an influence 
on the constituents. 

Sumatra Benzoin. — In irregular masses composed of yellowish- 
or reddish-brown tears of variable size and a reddish-brown and 
translucent or grayish-brown and opaque matrix; brittle, the tears 
internally being milky white ; becoming soft on warming, and yielding 
benzoic acid on sublimation; odor agreeable, balsamic, resembling 
that of styrax; taste slightly aromatic. About 75 per cent is soluble 
in a solution of potassium hydroxide or in 95 per cent alcohol. 

Siam Benzoin occurs in concavo-convex tears; it has a vanilla- 
like odor and is almost completely soluble in solutions of the alkalies 
or in alcohol; it is further distinguished from the Sumatra variety 
in not containing cinnamic acid, and therefore does not yield benzalde- 
hyde on boiling an acidulated solution with potassium permanganate. 

Powder. — Light reddish-brown; consisting mostly of irregular, 
nearly colorless purplish-red fragments, containing rosette aggre- 
gates of small rod-like crystals. Upon heating, in a watch crystal or 
on a slide and covering with a slide microsublimate crystals of benzoic 
acid are obtained (Fig. 36). 

Constituents of Sumatra Benzoin. — About 75 per cent of a resin- 
ous substance, benzoresin, which consists of two esters: (a) an ester 



BENZOIN 513 

of cinnamic acid and resinotannol (92.6 per cent), and (b) an ester of 
cinnamic acid and benzoresinol. Benzoresin on decomposition 
yields 30.3 per cent of cinnamic acid, 64.5 per cent resinotannol, 
which is soluble in a concentrated sodium salicylate solution, and 5.2 
per cent of benzoresinol. 

Sumatra benzoin also contains traces of benzaldehyde and 
benzol; 0.1 to 1 per cent of vanillin; 1 per cent Of the phenylpropyl 
ester of cinnamic acid; 2 to 3 per cent of styracin (cinnamic cinna- 
mate) ; and 14 to 17 per cent of insoluble matter, consisting chiefly of 
woody tissues. 

Constituents of Siam Benzoin. — It consists largely of a resinous 
substance, siabenzoresin, which is composed of about 90 per cent 
of an ester of benzoic acid and siaresinotannol, and about 10 per cent 
of an ester of benzoic acid and benzoresinol. Siabenzoresin on 
saponification yields 38.2 per cent of benzoic acid, 56.7 per cent 
of siaresinotannol, and 5.1 per cent of benzoresinol. 

Siam benzoin also contain 0.3 per cent of a neutral aromatic 
liquid, which is probably an ester of benzoic acid, the nature of 
the alcohol not having been determined as yet; 0.15 to 1.5 per cent of 
vanillin; a small quantity of free benzoic acid, and 1.3 to 3.3 per 
cent of impurities in the form of woodjr tissues. Penang Benzoin has 
an odor of styrax, and in composition resembles Siam benzoin. It 
contains considerable benzoic acid, and it and Palembang benzoin, 
also from Sumatra, are a source of benzoic acid. 

Literature. — Ludy, Arch. d. Pharm., 1893, p. 43; Tschirch, Die 
Harze und Harzbehalter. 

OLEACE.E, OR OLIVE FAMILY 

A family of about 500 species of trees and shrubs, of wide dis- 
tribution. The leaves are opposite, exstipulate, being either simple 
or odd-pinnate ,- the flowers are 2- to 4-parted, and usually arranged 
in panicles; the fruit is either a samara, drupe or berry. Several of 
the members of this family are widely distributed in the United 
States. The genus Fraxinus yields a number of our native, hardy 
and most ornamental trees. The white ash (Fraxinum americana) 
sometimes attaining a height of 40 or even 50 M. and being termed 
the Venus of the forest, the oak being known as the Hercules, To 
this family also belongs the olive, a tree indigenous to western Asia, 
and probably the Mediterranean region and which has been culti- 
vated from remote antiquity for its edible fruit and the fixed oil 
(olive oil) which it yields. The fruit is a drupe, and when ripe is of a 



514 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

purplish color. The full grown, but still green fruits are pickled in 
brine and sent to market for table use. The olive fruit is in general 
structure like the peach or apricot, the sarcocarp layer containing the 
fixed oil. The endocarp or " olive stone " is not infrequently finely 
comminuted and used as an adulterant of pepper and other spices, 
as well as powdered drugs. Its presence is easily detected by the 
characteristic stone cells (Fig. 64). 

Among the histological characteristics of the family, the following 
are of some importance in distinguishing it from some of the related 
groups. The fibrovascular bundles are of the bicollateral type. 
The non-glandular hairs are usually peltate. Calcium oxalate is 
secreted in the form of small acicular or prismatic crystals. The 
tracheae usually possess simple pores only. In the mesophyM of the 
leaves, sclerenchymatous fibers or spicular cells are frequently 
developed. 

Manna. — The dried, saccharine exudation from the stems of 
Fraxinus Ornus (Fam. Oleacese), a small tree indigenous to southern 
Europe, where it is also cultivated, particularly in Sicily. Manna 
is obtained by making transverse or oblique incisions in the bark, 
the exudation flowing down the side of the tree, where it hardens, or 
it is collected in special receptacles. Several commercial varieties 
are recognized: large flake manna, consisting of light-colored 
pieces 10 to 20 cm. in length; and small flake manna, which 
occurs in smaller light yellowish-brown pieces. The former is pre- 
ferred. 

Description. — In irregular, 3-sided, more or less elongated pieces; 
one side being smooth and concave; externally yellowish- white ; 
friable, somewhat waxy; internally whitish, porous and crystalline; 
odor suggestive of maple sugar; taste sweet, slightly bitter and 
acrid. 

Constituents. — The principal constituent is mannitol (80 to 90 
per cent), which crystallizes in colorless needles that are soluble in 
water and sparingly soluble in alcohol; on sublimation it yields a 
sweet, syrupy liquid, mannitan; the solutions of mannitol do not 
ferment nor are they decomposed with dilute acids. Manna also con- 
tains a green, fluorescent glucosidal principle, fraxin (resembling 
sesculin), which occurs in bitter, colorless prisms that are soluble 
in water and alcohol; dextrose, as high as 16 per cent; mucilage; 
resin, and 1.3 to 4 per cent ash. 

Allied Products. — A number of other species of Fraxinus indige- 
nous to Europe also yield manna. The term " manna " is applied 
to a number of exudations obtained from different sources and of 



FRINGE TREE 515 

varying composition. (Consult Ebert in Zeits. allgem. Oesterr. 
Apoth. Ver., 46, p. 427, 1908, and Apoth. Zeit., 24, p. 44, 1909.) 

For crystals of mannitol, consult Kraemer's Applied and Economic 
Botany, p. 156. 

Manna of inferior quality, known as " sorts," is obtained from 
incisions lower down on the stem, and consists of brownish-yellow, 
more or less agglutinated tears, which are sticky and but slightly 
crystalline. 

The leaves of a number of species of Eucalyptus (Fam. Myr- 
tacese) secrete a manna-like carbohydrate, as E. Gunnii and E. resini- 
fera. (Consult in this connection the plants considered under the 
Coniferse, Leguminosse and Myrtacese.) 

Chionanthus. — Fringe Tree Bark. — The bark of the roof of 
Chionanthus virginica (Fam. Oleaceae) , a tall shrub indigenous to the 
southern United States and extensively cultivated. It produces a 
deep green, glossy foliage and delicate flowers which hang in loose, 
drooping, graceful panicles. It is very commonly grafted on some of 
the species of Fraxinus when it becomes more vigorous and attains a 
height of 8 or 9 M. The bark of the root has been used by the eclec- 
tics and is preferably used in the fresh condition, although the 
recently gathered bark is also employed. 

Description. — Mostly in transversely curved pieces, occasionally 
in quills, from 2 to 8 cm. in length, 0.6 to 3.5 cm. in width and from 
2 to 7 mm. in thickness; hard and heavy; outer surface, yellowish- 
or reddish-brown; rough, scaly, occasionally with numerous lenticels 
and irregular scars; inner surface light yellowish-brown to dark 
reddish-brown, distinctly striate; fracture short; inner surface, 
waxy, having a thin, reddish-brown corky layer, outer bark thick, 
whitish, inner bark having several concentric circles of stone cells; 
odor distinct; taste very bitter. 

Inner Structure. — Periderm consisting of a thick layer of thin- 
walled, tangentially elongated cells, some of which possess a yellowish- 
brown, oily content; primary cortex of thick-walled cells containing 
numerous starch grains; inner bark with several concentric circles 
consisting of small groups of stone cells distributed in among the 
phloem; medullary rays 1 to 3 cells in width. 

Powder. — Light yellowish-brown; fragments of starch-bearing 
parenchyma numerous; occasional groups of stone cells, the latter 
occurring in large plates and consisting of nearly isodiametric forms, 
short fibers, and more or less oblong cells, walls varying in thickness, 
frequently very thick, lamellated and having branching pores; occa- 
sional fragments of yellowish-brown cork cells; starch grains single 



516 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

or compound from 0.003 to 0.025 mm. in diameter, varying from 
spheroidal to somewhat flattened reniform, among which are plano- 
convex or polyhedral forms. 

Constituents. — The drug apparently contains a bitter glucoside, 
chionanthin; possibly also a saponin ; ash from 4 to 5 per cent. 

Literature. — Schulz, Pharm. Zeitschr. f. RussL, 1893. 

Fraxinus. — White Ash Bark. — The bark of Fraxinus americana 
(Fam. Oleacese), a large forest tree of the northern United States 
and Canada. Both the stem and root barks are collected, the latter 
being preferred. The bark is collected in the spring, from the 
branches and trunks of trees from 10 to 25 years of age. The outer 
periderm should be removed. Sometimes the root bark is collected 
at the same time. 

Description. — In nearly flattened pieces from 10 to 15 cm. in 
length, 2.5 to 7.5 cm. in breadth and 3 to 10 mm. in thickness; 
outer surface reddish-brown, irregularly furrowed and with numerous 
shallow patches, frequently with the yellowish-gray outer periderm 
present; inner surface yellowish-brown, nearly smooth, somewhat 
longitudinally striate; fracture uneven, short-fibrous; odor slight 
aromatic; taste bitter, slightly aromatic and acrid. 

Inner Structure. — Periderm consisting of thick-walled concavo- 
convex and somewhat collapsed cells having a reddish-brown amor- 
phous content ; outer layers of cortex of several layers of very small 
parenchyma cells containing a light reddish-brown amorphous sub- 
stance; inner and middle bark of concentric bands of sclerenchyma, 
consisting of radially elongated groups of bast fibers, large groups 
of stone cells in which are included frequently small groups of bast 
fibers separated by equally broad concentric bands of leptome and 
parenchyma ; medullary rays 1 to 7 rows wide and 5 to 20 rows deep, 
containing either a colorless, or yellowish-brown, granular or amor- 
phous content; stone cells very irregular, varying from 0.050 to 0.160 
mm. in length, having thick, finely lamellated, and slightly porous 
walls; bast fibers, attaining a length of 1.2 mm., having thick porous 
walls, wavy margins and sharp pointed, more or less beaked and 
short branching ends. 

Constituents. — A volatile oil; an alkaloid; several resins; starch 
and sugar; neither tannic nor gallic acids are apparently present. 

Allied Drug. — The bark of the young twigs of Fraxinus excelsior, 
a tree growing in Europe and northern Asia, is used in European 
countries. It is collected in spring, consists of quills having a thick- 
ness of 2 to 3 mm. The bark is externally grayish- or grayish-green, 
somewhat scaly; the inner surface light yellowish; the fracture is 



OLIVE LEAVES 517 

fibrous; taste bitter and astringent. It contains a crystalline glu- 
coside, fraxin; a crystalline bitter principle, fraxinin; and tannic 
acid from 2 to 3 per cent. 

Literature. — Power, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1882, p. 99; Edwards, 
Ibid., p. 282. 

Olea Europaea. — The leaves of the olive tree, Olea europsea 
(Farn. Oleacese), were employed many years ago as a remedy in 
intermittent fever, and quite recently attention has again been directed 
to their therapeutic value as a tonic and febrifuge. Both the leaves 
and the bark of the olive tree have, therefore, been subjected to a 
complete chemical examination, which has resulted in the isolation 
of a large number of new and interesting substances. From olive 
leaves have been isolated a crystalline substance, oleanol. — Power, 
Jour. Chem. Soc, 1908, pp. 891 and 904; 1913, p. 2050; also Pharm. 
Jour., 1908, (81), p. 714. 

LOGANIACE^E, OR NUX-VOMICA FAMILY 

A family of about 400 species, which are widely distributed. 
The plants are variable in character, ranging from annual herbs to 
trees, some being twining and woody vines. The leaves are simple, 
the flowers regular, having tubular or somewhat campanulate corollas, 
and the fruit is either a berry or capsule. According to Solereder 
they may be divided into 2 principal sub-groups: (1) The Loganioi- 
dese, including Gelsemium, Spigelia, Strychnos, etc., in which an 
intraxylary phloem is always present and glandular hairs are wanting. 
In this group there is also a superficial development of cork. (2) 
The Buddleioidese, including a few genera in which glandular hairs 
are present, the cork originates in the pericycle, and there are no 
strands of phloem in the pith. Among other histological characters 
distinguishing this family, the following may be mentioned. The 
cork is frequently lamellated. There is usually a development of a 
ring of stone cells in the primary cortex, or outer layers of middle 
bark, as in certain species of Strychnos. The trachea? possess simple 
pores, occasionally scalariform perforations, except when the walls 
are in contact with the cells of the medullary rays, when they develop 
bordered pores. The walls of the wood fibers have either simple or 
bordered pores. Calcium oxalate is secreted in a number of forms, 
viz., ordinary crystals, styloids, rosette aggregates, acicular or micro- 
crystals. The structure of the leaf may be as follows : The walls of 
the upper epidermal cells may be metamorphosed to mucilage; a 
distinct hypodermis may be developed; in the mesophyll there may 



518 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

be distributed mucilage cells or branched spicular cells; the outer 
walls of the lower epidermal cells may be papillose, or even show cork 
formation. In the Loganioidese the non-glandular hairs are either 
unicellular or uniseriate, those in Strychnos having a specific value. 
In Spigelia there are developed stellate hairs composed of single 
united cells, which are inserted upon a multicellular stalk. True 
glandular hairs, having flattened heads, are only found in Buddle- 
ioidese. 

Gelsemium. — Yellow Jessamine, Yellow Jasmine. — The dried 
rhizome and roots of Gelsemium sempervirens (Fam. Loganiaceae), 
a smooth, perennial climber of the southern United States and 
Guatemala. The drug should be collected in autumn. 

Description. — Rhizome horizontal, cylindrical, usually cut into 
pieces 3 to 20 cm. in length, 4 to 30 mm. in diameter; externally light 
brown, also somewhat purplish-brown, longitudinally wrinkled, 
transversely fissured; upper surface with few stem-scars; under and 
side portions with numerous roots and root-scars; fracture tough, 
wiry; internally light brown or pale yellow, bark about 1 mm. in 
thickness; wood distinctly radiate, excentral, with four groups of 
intraxylary phloem, pith disintegrated; odor slight; taste bitter. 

Roots light brown; 3 to 20 cm. in length, 2 to 8 mm. in thick- 
ness; internally light yellow, bark about 0.5 mm. in thickness; 
wood distinctly radiate. 

The overground stem is dark or reddish-brown, longitudinally 
wrinkled and has numerous lenticels and few, somewhat elliptical 
branch-scars; the bark is about 0.2 mm. in thickness and somewhat 
greenish. 

Inner Structure. — See Figs. 217 and 218. 

The alkaloids are localized in the epidermal cells and in the 
parenchyma of the vascular bundles, and may be somewhat easily 
determined (Fig. 219). They also may be detected by the use 
of certain reagents. A solution of iodin and potassium iodide 
gives a reddish-brown precipitate; nitric acid colors the cells a 
deep yellow and in which needle-shaped crystals of the nitrates 
may separate; solutions of platinic chloride, gold chloride, or picric 
acid form yellow precipitates; phosphomolybdic acid gives a yel- 
lowish-white precipitate; vanadic and sulphuric acids' produce a 
red color which is slowly changed to green. Other alkaloidal reagents 
also may be employed. 

Powder.— Dark yellow; tracheae with simple pores; scleren- 
chymatous fibers long, narrow, lignified; starch grains spheroidal, 
from 0.004 to 0.010 mm. in diameter; calcium oxalate in long mono- 



YELLOW JESSAMINE 



519 



clinic prisms, from 0.015 to 0.030 mm. in diameter. In the powder of 
the overground stem collenchymatous cells, containing chloroplastids, 
are present. 

The following test is rather expeditious in obtaining an approxi- 
mate idea of the quantitative value of the drug. One gramme of 
the finely powdered gelsemium is mixed with 10 c.c. of a modified 




Fig. 217. — Transverse section of rhizome of gelsemium: K, cork; C, cortex; 
WF, wood fibers; T, tracheae; MR, medullary rays; Ph, intraxylary phloem. 



Prollius fluid and allowed to macerate for from four to twenty-four 
hours. The solution is filtered into a small separatory funnel and 
5 c.c. of dilute sulphuric acid (0.5 per cent) added, and after separa- 
tion of the aqueous solution the latter is diluted with 5 c.c. of water. 
A few drops of this separated solution (1 drop = 0.0000175 
gramme alkaloids), containing the alkaloids, when treated with 
the following reagents, should cause the rections noted : 



520 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



SK_ 




Fig. 218. — Transverse section of gelsemium near the cambium: P, parenchyma; 
S, sieve; C, cambium; Ca, calcium oxalate crystals; SK, SF, wood fibers; 
T, tracheae; MR, medullary rays. 




Fig. 219. — Gelsemium: A, longitudinal section of the rhizome showing the 
separation of acicular crystals of the nitrates of the several alkaloids. The 
sections are allowed to remain in a desiccator, exposed to the vapors of nitric 
acid, for about 12 hours. They are then mounted in paraffin oil, and 
allowed to stand for several hours, when the alkaloids should separate in 
the form of small needles throughout the parenchyma tissue. Some of the 
crystals form feather-shaped aggregates at or near the edges of the section, 
as shown to the right in the illustration. In the figure above are shown, also, 
the long prismatic crystals of calcium oxalate in the cells of the medullary 
rays, which are unaffected by the vapors of the acid. — After Tunmann. 
Pflanzenmikrochemie. 



NUX VOMICA 521 

Mayer's reagent produces an immediate yellow precipitate. 

Ammonium molybdate produces a blue-colored solution which 
becomes more marked in a few minutes and the color may last for a 
number of hours. 

Picric acid produces a slight yellowish precipitate. 

Iodin and potassium iodide solution gives an orange-brown 
colored precipitate. 

Constituents. — Two alkaloids of great toxicity, the one known as 
Gelsemine, crystallizes in silky needles and on the addition of 
concentrated nitric acid and heating the solution is colored reddish 
and then dark green; the other gelseminine, occurring in amor- 
phous masses and forming yellowish amorphous salts, is colored 
greenish on the addition of nitric acid. In addition the drug contains 
traces of emodin monomethyl ether, together with scopoletin (a 
monomethyl ether of sesculetin). A subsequent investigation on the 
constitution of scopoletin has definitely established the fact that it is 
4-hy droxy-5-methoxy-coumar in . 

A method having been described in the literature for the detection 
of sesculin by microsublimation, which was regarded as being specially 
adapted for the identification of gelsemium, the opportunity was 
taken of correcting several errors of statement connected therewith. 
It has been noted by Power that gelsemium contains no aesculin, and, 
furthermore, that this glucoside cannot be sublimed, owing to its 
decomposition on heating. The crystalline sublimate obtained 
from gelsemium under the specified conditions consists of scopoletin. 

Gelsemium also contains about 0.5 per cent of a volatile oil: 
about 4 per cent of resins; pentatriacontane; a phytosterol; a 
phytosterolin; several fatty acids; starch; and calcium oxalate. 

Literature. — Thompson, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1899, p. 422; 
Holm, Merck's Report, 1908, p. 86; Power, Jour. Chem. Soc, 1910, 
p. 2223; Ibid., 1911, p. 2131; Stevenson and Sayre, Jour. A. Ph. A., 
1915, 4, p. 1458. 

Nux Vomica. — The dried, ripe seeds of Strychnos Nux vomica 
(Fam. Loganiacese), a small tree native of the East Indies and also 
found growing in the forests of Ceylon, on the Malabar Coast and in 
northern Australia. The fruit is a kind of berry with from three to 
five seeds, which are freed from the bitter pulp by washing, and dried 
before exportation. The seeds are also known as Quaker Buttons. 

Description. — Orbicular, compressed, concavo-convex, sometimes 
irregularly bent, margin acute or rounded, 17 to 30 mm. in diameter, 
3 to 5 mm. in thickness; externally grayish-yellow or grayish-green, 
covered with long hairs giving the seed a satiny luster, sometimes 



522 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



with adhering dark-brown fragments of the fruit pulp, hilum near 
the center of one side, and a more or less distinct ridge resembling a 
raphe extending from it to the micropyle ; very hard when dry, tough 
when damp ; internally whitish, horny, endosperm in two more or less 




Fig. 220. — Original packages of Nux Vomica imported from India, 
photograph by Parke, Davis & Co. 



-After a 



regular concavo-convex halves, embryo small, situated near the 
micropyle, and with two heart-shaped cotyledons; inodorous; taste 
intensely and persistently bitter. 

Inner Structure. — The epidermal cells of the seed-coat are thick- 
walled, very porous and are developed into long hairs, attaining a 



NUX VOMICA 523 

length of 1 mm., the walls being nearly straight, strongly lignified 
and marked by longitudinal pores or folds; an inner layer of dark 
brown completely collapsed parenchyma cells, which in the vicinity 
of the raphe are somewhat turgid and enclose a fibro vascular bundle ; 
the cells of the endosperm are of two kinds, those near the outer 
surface being more or less rectangular, the walls swelling but slightly 
in water; and those below which are irregularly polyhedral and having 
walls that swell quite perceptibly in water. 

The walls of the endosperm cells consist of cellulose, are very thick 
and when examined with certain swelling reagents show not only 
lamellae, but a radiate structure resembling pores. By some, these 
are considered to be protoplasmic strands, as they are easily stained 
with the aniline dyes. Kraemer compares them to the radial clefts 
of the starch grains of wheat. 

The endosperm cells contain an irregular layer of protoplasm, 
in which is enclosed a fixed oil and aleurone grains, the latter consist- 
ing of large unequal globoids. 

Powder. — (Fig. 221.) Grayish-white; odor slight; taste in- 
tensely and persistently bitter; epidermal cells modified to strongly 
lignified hairs; endosperm cells containing a fixed oil and aleurone 
grains. Small, nearly spheroidal starch grains occur in the tissues 
of adhering fruit pulp. It is occasionally adulterated with olive 
endocarp and seeds of Metroxylon vitiense. 

A qualitative test having some quantitative value in determining 
the strength of powdered nux vomica is as follows: 0.100 gramme of 
finely powdered nux vomica (calculated to contain 2.25 per cent of 
alkaloids) is shaken in the course of several hours with 500 c.c. of 
water. Ten c.c. of this solution, diluted with 90 c.c. of water; a 
• few cubic centimeters of the dilute solution give the characteristic 
bitter taste of nux vomica. One c.c. of this dilution is calculated 
to contain 0.0000045 gramme of the alkaloids. 

The following test is rather expeditious in obtaining an approxi- 
mate idea of the quantitative value of nux vomica. One gramme of 
the powdered drug (calculated to contain 2.25 per cent of alkaloids) 
is mixed with 10 c.c. of a modified Prollius fluid 1 and allowed to 
stand, with frequent agitation, from four to twenty-four hours. 
The solution is then filtered into a small separatory funnel and 5 c.c. 
of a dilute sulphuric acid (0.5 per cent) added, and after separation 
of the aqueous solution the latter is diluted with 5 c.c. of water. 

1 Ether, 60 c.c; alcohol, 7.5 c.c; chloroform, 30 c.c; ammonia, 2.5 c.c. It 
should be borne in mind in this connection that probably the modified Prollius 
solution does not extract all the alkaloids in the various drugs equally well. 



524 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



This solution of 10 c.c. contains 0.00225 gramme of the alkaloids of 
nux vomica. Calculating 20 drops as being equivalent to 1 c.c, 
we have 20 X 10 c.c. = 200 drops. Then 200 drops of liquid contain 
approximately .00225 gramme of alkaloids and 1 drop contains 
2ihr X .00225 = .00001125 gramme. A few drops of this solution, 
in a watch crystal, should give with the following reagents distinctive 
reactions. 

Mayer's reagent, a pronounced white precipitate. 




Fig. 221. — Nux Vomica: H, fragments of lignified hairs of seed-coat; B, basal 
portion of hairs; E, thick-walled parenchyma cells of endosperm containing 
one or more oil globules and protoplasm; P, isolated protoplasmic substance 
from endosperm cells. 



Potassium permanganate and sulphuric acid, a purple color that 
is evanescent. 

Potassium dichromate and sulphuric acid, a purple color that is 
more persistent. 

Gold chloride solution gives a very slight yellow precipitate. 

Constituents. — Ash 1 to 4 per cent; chlorogenic (formerly called 
igasuric) acid, which is dibasic acid and crystallizes in needles, the 
solutions giving a green color with solutions of ferric chloride; 1.5 to 
5 per cent of alkaloids consisting of strychnine and brucine, the former 
comprising from one-third to one-half of the total amount. Strych- 



STRYCHNINE 525 

nine crystallizes in rhombic prisms and gives with concentrated 
sulphuric acid, in connection with potassium dichromate, a blue 
or violet color. Brucine forms rectangular octohedra and gives a 
deep-red color with nitric acid. A glucoside, loganin, is present 
in the seeds in small amount, but it is found in the pulp of the fruit 
to the extent of 5 per cent. The alkaloids are probably distributed 
in both the cell-contents and cell wall. Their presence in the wall is 
shown by the use of iodin solution and in the contents by the use of 
potassium dichromate and sulphuric acid. The thick cellulose walls 
give the hard, horny character to these seeds, as also the date seed. 
A small amount of starch is found in the fragments of adhering pulp. 
The seeds are sometimes made to look fresh by the use of a blue dye 
which is soluble in dilute alcohol. 

Strychnine crystallizes in anhydrous orthorhombic crystals from 
alcoholic solutions. It forms crystallizable salts with the various 
acids, as well as double salts with platinic chloride and gold chloride. 
Of the salts, the sulphates are commercially the most important. 
According to Rammelsberg x there are three strychnine sulphates : 
(1) An acid salt, with two molecules of water of crystallization 
(C21H22N2O2.H2SO4 + 2H2O) and crystallizing in needles, crystal 
form not given. (2) A neutral salt with 5 molecules of water of 
crystallization [(C2iH22N 2 02)2.H 2 S04 + 5H 2 0], orthorhombic (?), 
from hot aqueous solutions. (3) A neutral salt with six molecules of 
water of crystallization [(C2iH 2 2N 2 02)2.H 2 S04 + 6H 2 0], tetragonal, 
obtained from aqueous solutions at the ordinary temperature. This 
latter is the most characteristic form and is the one here described. 
At 25° C. one part of strychnine sulphate is soluble in 31 parts of 
water; 65 parts of alcohol; and 325 parts of chloroform. It is 
nearly insoluble in ether. Crystals obtained on a microscopic slide 
from solutions in water, alcohol, dilute alcohol or a mixture of alcohol 
and chloroform vary in size from 0.40 mm. to 2.0 mm. (Figs. 222 and 
223) . 2 

Brucine is always associated in the plant kingdom with strych- 
nine. It contains two methoxyl-groups and is looked upon as 
being di-methoxy-strychnine. If crystallized from hot water it 
contains 4 molecules of water of crystallization, but when crystallized 

1 C. Rammelsberg, Ber. d. deutsch. chem. Ges., 1881, 14, p. 1231; abstract 
in Zeitschr. f. Krystallog., 1884, 9, p. 108. 

2 A photomicrograph of tetragonal crystals of strychnine sulphate, showing 
side aspect in polarized light, is given in Kraemer's Applied and Economic 
Botany, p. 769. 

Consult Groth's Physikalische Krystallographie (1905), 4th Ed., p. 431. 



526 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 222. — Strychnine sulphate: tetragonal crystals from aqueous solution, in 
ordinary light, showing basal and side aspects. 




Fig. 223. — Strychnine sulphate: tetragonal crystals from aqueous solution, 
showing basal aspect in polarized light. Also one large crystal of a second 
form (orthorhombic?) of strychnine sulphate. 



IGNATIA 



527 



from alcoholic solutions it contains but two molecules. 1 A number of 
salts are used in medicine and the sulphate alone was examined. 
The crystals of brucine sulphate vary in length from 1 to 2.5 mm. 
(Fig. 224). 

Ignatia. — The seeds of Strychnos Ignatii (Fam. Loganiaceae), a 
woody climber of the Philippine Islands, contain about the same 
amount of total alkaloids as nux vomica, of which one-third to two- 
thirds is strychnine. The seeds are irregular, somewhat oblong or 
ovoid, pebble-like, 20 to 30 mm. in length; grayish- or brownish- 
black, more or less translucent, and are nearly free from lignified 
hairs, such as are found in nux vomica. 




Fig. 224. — Brucine sulphate: orthorhombic crystals from aqueous solution. 



Literature. — Tschirch, Arch. d. Pharm., 1890, p. 203; Meyer, 
Wissenchaftliche Drogenkunde; Kraemer, Proc. Am. Phil. Soc, 
1902, p. 174; Hill, Kew Bull., 1917, p. 121. 

Spigelia. — Pinkroot. — The rhizome and roots of Spigelia mari- 
landica (Fam. Loganiaceae), a perennial herb indigenous to the 
southern United States. Spigelia should be collected in autumn, 
carefully dried and preserved, and not kept longer than two years. 

Description. — Rhizome horizontal or slightly oblique, more or 
less branched, 1.5 to 3 cm. in length, 2 to 3 mm. in diameter; exter- 
nally dark brown, slightly annulate from scars of bud-scales, the 
1 A. Oesterle, Grundriss der Pharmakochemie. 



528 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



upper portion with stem-scars or stem-remnants, under and side 
portions with numerous roots and root-scars; fracture short; inter- 
nally, bark dark brown, 0.2 to 0.5 mm. in thickness, wood yellow, 
slightly radiate, 1 to 1.5 mm. in thickness, pith 1 mm. in diameter; 
odor slightly aromatic; taste bitter, pungent. 




Carolina pink (Spigelia marilandica) showing the rhizome bearing two branches 
with opposite leaves, the flowers occurring in terminal scorpioid cymes. — 
After Carson. 



Roots 5 to 10 cm. in length, about 0.3 mm. in diameter, with 
numerous rootlets; externally dark brown, longitudinally wrinkled; 
internally light brown, wood nearly cylindrical, porous. 

Inner Structure. — See Figs. 225 and 226. 



529 




^- 



Fig. 225. — Pinkroot (Spigelia marilandica) : A, transverse section of root showing 
' epidermis (e), parenchyma containing starch (p), peripheral layer of central 
cylinder (I), the endodermis (e), a pericambial layer (i). The central cylinder 
consists of six to eight radial fibrovascular bundles, and some of the tracheae 
contain a brown gummy substance. B, transverse section of rhizome 
showing epidermis (t), the outer wall of which contains a yellowish-brown 
substance, parenchyma (p) of cortex containing starch, sieve of cortex (s), 
cambium (c), tracheae (t), tracheae (r) containing globular or somewhat 
irregular yellowish-brown masses, tracheids (h), internal sieve groups (s), 
parenchyma of pith {p') containing starch. C, longitudinal section of the 
woody part of the rhizome. D, isolated starch grains, which are from 0.020 
to 0.005 mm. in diameter. 



530 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Powder. — Grayish-brown; starch grains spheroidal or slightly 
polygonal, from 0.002 to 0.006 mm. in diameter; fragments con- 
taining lignified tracheae and tracheids conspicuous; fragments of 
tracheae with spiral thickenings relatively few; bast fibers few, very 




Fig. 226. — A, transverse section of the root of Spigelia marilandica: a, epidermis; 

b, cortex; d, xylem; e, cambium; i, pith; j, endodermis; I, pericycle B, 
transverse section of the root of Ruellia ciliosa: a, epidermis; b, cortex; 

c, bast fibers; d, xylem; j, endodermis; I, pericycle; m, cystoliths; n, collen- 
chyma; o, sclereids or elongated stone cells. — After Stockberger. 



long, non-lignified ; occasional fragments of the reddish-brown 
epidermal cells. 

Constituents. — A crystalline, volatile alkaloid, spigeline, which 
somewhat resembles confine and nicotine and which forms precipi- 



RUELLIA 



531 



tates with iodin or Mayer's reagent that are soluble in mineral acids; 
a bitter, acrid principle; volatile oil; resin; tannin; and starch. 

Ruellia. — For a number of years true Spigelia has been sub- 
stituted by or admixed with the rhizome and roots of east Tennessee 
pinkroot (Ruellia ciliosa). a perennial herb, belonging to the Acan- 
thaceae and growing in woods and thickets of the southern United 
States. The rhizome is somewhat oblique, having the basal portions 
of the aerial shoots usually attached. It is yellowish-brown, pos- 
sessing a central pith and thick, hard wood. The roots are cylin- 
drical and vary from yellowish-brown to dark brown, nearly straight, 
somewhat wiry, the bark being easily detached, leaving the tough, 
wiry, light yellowish wood exposed. 





End. 



Fig. 227. — Ruellia ciliosa, the rhizome and roots of which are a common adul- 
terant of spigelia. A, transverse section of a secondary root: C, cortical 
parenchyma with one cystolith and a number of stone cells with very thick 
walls and radiating simple pores: End, endodermis. B, longitudinal section 
of the same root, showing a single cell with an elongated cystolith, the en- 
crustation being of calcium carbonate. — After Holm. 



The histology of the rhizome of Ruellia is as follows: epidermal 
cells, tangentially elongated, the outer walls being much thickened; 
outer cortical layer composed of parenchyma cells, having collen- 
chymatous thickenings of the wall, and cystolith-containing cells; 
inner cortical zone made up of thin-walled parenchyma, leptome and 
sclereids or strongly lignified, elongated stone cells having thick, 
porous and lamellated walls; endodermis distinct; xylem composed 
of a compact zone of porous tracheae, and wood fibers ; pith consisting 



532 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

of large thick-walled parenchyma; starch grains resembling those in 
Spigelia. The drug apparently contains a camphoraceous body 
which forms acicular crystals. 

Phlox Carolina. — It has been supposed that among the other 
adulterants of Spigelia some of the commercial drug is derived from 
Phlox Carolina or Carolina pink. The latter is a perennial herb, 
belonging to the Polemoniaceae, and growing in the woods of the 
southern United States. The rhizome is upright and is merely an 
extension of the over-ground stem (Fig. 228), comprising from 2 to 4 
nodes. From each of the nodes arise 2 to 4 comparatively thick roots 
from 1 to 2 cm. in length, unbranched and producing a large number 
of fine rootlets, especially near the ends. 

The rhizome is very woody, the xylem occupying one-half of the 
radius of the section. The fibrovascular bundles are of the collateral 
type (Fig. 228) and there is a complete absence of intraxylary phloem, 
which is present in both Spigelia and Ruellia. The nature of the 
constituents in Phlox Carolina is uncertain, as in the results published 
there is a question as to the authenticity of the material employed 
by the several investigators. 

Literature. — Greenish, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1891, p. 226; Holm, 
Ibid., 1906, p. 553; Stockberger, Pharm. Review, 1907; p. 2, Kraemer, 
Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1910, p. 470. 



GENTIANACE^, OR GENTIAN FAMILY 

A family of about 600 species of herbs, which are most abundant 
in temperate regions. The leaves are simple and usually opposite; 
the flowers are regular, and borne in terminal or axillary cymes; and 
the fruit is a capsule. The plants of this family invariably contain 
bitter principles. The primary cortex not infrequently contains 
collenchyma. A ring of sclerenchymatous tissues may or may not 
develop in the pericycle. Strands of interxylary phloem occur in 
Gentiana, Erythraea and other genera. The walls of the tracheae 
possess simple pores only. The wood fibers are marked usually by 
bordered pores. The medullary rays are very narrow and sometimes 
entirely wanting. The non-glandular hairs are unicellular. In the 
parenchyma cells throughout Menyanthes occur intercellular 
branching hairs, having thick walls, which project into the inter- 
cellular spaces. At the margins of the leaves of Menyanthes there 
also occur hydathodes, or water storing cells. Calcium oxalate 
crystals are wanting. 



PHLOX CAROLINA 



533 




Fig. 228. — Phlox Carolina: A, lower portion of plant showing long roots with 
numerous rootlets at the ends. B, parenchyma from cortex of rhizome 
showing two sclerotic cells (s). C, cross-section of portion of rhizome show- 
ing parenchyma of cortex (p) which contains protoplasm and starch grains 
endodermis (e), leptome (s), tracheae (v), libriform (t), wood parenchyma 
(w), parenchyma of pith containing starch grains and protoplasm (pa). 
D, isolated sclerotic cells from cortex. E, tracheae having annular and spiral 
thickenings. F, libriform cells. G, glandular hair from the leaf. 



534 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Gentiana. — Gentian. — The rhizome and roots of Gentiana 
lutea (Fam. Gentianaceae), a perennial herb (Fig. 229) indigenous to 
central and southern Europe and Asia Minor. The fleshy rhizomes 
and roots are collected in autumn and frequently cut into longitudinal 
pieces and slowly dried, during which latter process they develop a 
distinctive color and odor, losing thereby some of. the gentiopicrin. 




Fig. 229. — Gentiana lutea, growing in the Royal Botanic Society's Gardens 
(London). — After Perredes. 



The commercial supplies are obtained from France, Germany, Spain 
and Switzerland. 

Description. — Nearly cylindrical and sometimes branched, split 
longitudinally or broken into irregular pieces, 3 to 15 cm. in length, 
5 to 40 mm. in diameter; externally light brown, the upper or rhizome 
portion annulate from scars of bud-scales, longitudinally wrinkled, 



GENTIAN 



535 



and with few buds, stem- and root-scars, roots longitudinally wrinkled ; 
fracture short when dry, tough and flexible when damp; internally 
dark yellow, bark 0.5 to 2 mm. in thickness, porous, cambium zone 
distinct; odor heavy; taste bitter. 
Inner Structure. — See Fig. 230. 

A 




^^ 





Fig. 230. — Longitudinal (A) and transverse (B) sections of gentian: a, cork; 
6, a kind of hypodermal layer; c, sieve; /, cambium; e, elongated fiber-like 
cells; h, somewhat elongated parenchyma cells; g, short parenchyma cells. — 
After Meyer. 



Powder. — Light brown or yellowish-brown; tracheae having 
simple pores; intermediate fibers non-lignified, the walls being marked 
with irregular, simple, oblique pores; few globules of a fixed oil. 
Aqueous extract not less than 33 per cent. A substitute has been 



536 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

offered consisting of the exhausted drug to which aloes had been 
added. Ground olive endocarp has also been found in the powder. 

A qualitative test having some quantitative value in deter- 
mining the strength of powdered gentian is as follows: 0.500 gramme 
of the finely powdered drug is shaken with 500 c.c. of water for a few 
hours. Ten c.c. of the filtered solution are diluted with 10 c.c. of 
water. A few cubic centimeters of this solution should give the 
characteristic taste of gentian. 

Constituents. — A bitter glucoside gentiopicrin, about 0.1 per cent, 
occurring in yellow needles which are readily soluble in water but less 
so in alcohol and to which the drug owes its peculiar bitterness and 
odor; a coloring principle gentisin (gentianin or gentisic acid), occur- 
ring in yellowish prisms which are soluble in alcohol but nearly 
insoluble in water, and becoming greenish-brown with solutions of 
ferric salts, whence some consider it to be a kind of tannin and have 
named it . gentiotannic acid ; quercitrin, or an allied product, crys- 
tallizing in yellowish needles; gentianose, a crystalline carbohydrate 
which occurs in the fresh root and which does not reduce Fehling's 
solution; 12 to 15 per cent of glucose; and pectin. Gentian also 
contains two other glucosides : gentiamarin, which is amorphous, has 
a disagreeable bitter taste and gives a slight darkening with iron 
salts; and gentianin, which occurs in yellowish needles, gives a 
greenish-black color with solutions of ferric salts and on hydrolysis 
3 r ields gentienin, xylose and glucose. 

Allied Plants. — The rhizomes and roots of various other European 
species of Gentiana are sometimes collected and employed medici- 
nally, as of Gentiana purpurea, collected in Switzerland, and G. 
pannonica and G. punctata, collected in Austria. The rhizome and 
roots of Elliott's gentian, Gentiana Elliottii, indigenous to the 
southeastern part of the United States, was at one time official in 
this country. 

The root of American Columbo, also known as yellow gentian 
(Frasera carolinensis) , a perennial herb growing in the eastern United 
States and Canada, resembles in the whole condition the true gen- 
tian, but is of a lighter color (see Calumba). 

Chirata. — The entire plant of Sweertia Chirata (Fam. Gen- 
tianacese), an annual herb indigenous to the mountains of northern 
India. The plants are collected after the capsules are fully formed, 
dried and made into bundles. 

Description. — Usually in flat bundles tied with strips of bamboo 
and about 1 M. in length, 15 cm. wide and 7 cm. in thickness. Root 
simple, tapering, about J7 mm. in thickness near the crown ; externally 



CHIRATA 537 

yellowish-brown, wrinkled, with few rootlets; internally, bark whit- 
ish, about 2 mm. in thickness, wood yellow, porous, radiate. Stem 
cylindrical, flattened, quadrangular above, each angle with a decur- 
rent wing, about 1 M. in length, 4 to 6 mm. in thickness, yellowish- 
or purplish-brown, longitudinally wrinkled, internodes 3 to 8 cm. in 
length; internally, bark yellowish-brown, very thin, easily separable, 
wood yellowish, slightly porous, radiate, 0.5 to 1 mm. in thickness, 
pith lemon-yellow, 2 to 3 mm. in diameter, easily separable from the 
wood, sometimes wanting. Leaves opposite, ovate-lanceolate, about 
6 cm. in length, 2.5 cm. in diameter; summit acuminate; base some- 
what amplexicaul; margin entire; upper and under surfaces brown- 
ish-green, midrib prominent and with 3 to 7 parallel lateral veins. 
Inflorescence a large panicle ; flowers numerous, regular ; calyx about 
4 mm. in length and with 4 lanceolate divisions; corolla yellow, rotate, 
about 10 mm. in length, with 4 lanceolate lobes, each with a pair of 
nectaries near the base ; stamens 4, inserted at the base of the corolla 
tube ; style slender, with two recurved stigmas ; ovary 1-locular, with 
2 parietal placentas. Fruit a superior, ovoid, pointed, yellowish- 
brown, bicarpellary, unilocular capsule. Seeds numerous, ana- 
tropous, somewhat oblong, flattened, about 0.5 mm. in length, testa 
reticulate; embryo small, straight, embedded in the endosperm. 
Odor slight; taste extremely bitter. 

Powder. — Dark yellow; tracheae spiral, scalariform or with sim- 
ple pores; sclerenchymatous fibers long, narrow, thick-walled, 
more or less lignified, and with oblique pores; parenchymatous 
cells of pith large, slightly lignified, and with numerous simple pores; 
pollen grains oblong or ellipsoidal, very prickly, about 0.035 mm. in 
diameter; collenchymatous cells with yellowish-brown resin and 
tannin masses. 

Constituents. — A bitter glucoside chiratin, which is precipitated 
by tannin and yields on hydrolysis two bitter principles; ophelic 
acid and chiratogenin, the latter being insoluble in water. Ophelic 
acid is a brown hygroscopic substance which is readily soluble in 
water and alcohol and on heating with Trommer's reagent causes the 
deposition of yellowish cuprous oxide. The drug also contains resin, 
tannin and 4 to 8 per cent of ash. 

Allied Plants. — Other species of Sweertia, as well as other bitter 
plants known in India as " chiretta," find their way into the market, 
but are, however, easily distinguished from the true drug. 

Centaurium. — Herba Centaurii Minoris, Centatjrea Minore, 
Lesser Centaury Tops or Bitter Herb. — The over-ground plant 
of Centaurium umbellatum (Erythraea Centaurium), an annual 



538 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

herb belonging to the Gentian family, indigenous to Europe and 
naturalized in Canada and from Massachusetts to Indiana, growing 
commonly in waste places. The plant is gathered at the time of 
flowering in Jul}', when some of the fruits have partially matured. 
The roots are separated, and the plants are tied into small bundles, 
from 3 to 6 cm. in diameter, and dried. The drug is official in a 
number of the foreign Pharmacopoeias, and the name Centaurium 
was applied to it by the old herbalist, in allusion to its supposed 
priceless medicinal value. 

Description. — Stems obscurely -i-angled, or cylindrical and some- 
what winged, from 20 to 30 cm. in length, corymbcsely branched 
above; externally light green, light yellowish-brown or dark brown, 
finely longitudinally striate, and glabrous, having narrow mem- 
branous light brown wing-like ridges which are caused by an extra 
development of collenchyma ; fracture fibrous, pith hollow. Leaves 
opposite, sessile, linear, oblong or elliptical, the latter from 2 to 3.5 
cm. in length and from 2 to 10 mm. in width; summit acute, margin 
entire; greenish-brown and glabrous. Flowers, in dense terminal 
cymes, calyx tubular having long linear segments; corolla salver- 
shaped, rose pink, when fresh or carefully dried, otherwise light brown; 
stamens 5, yellow, inserted on the corolla tube, the anthers becoming 
more or less spirally twisted; ovary unilocular, style filiform. Fruit 
an ovoid capsule, 2-valved containing numerous small reticulated 
seeds; odor distinct; taste persistently bitter. 

Inner Structure. — Stems having a layer of epidermal cells with 
strongly thickened outer walls; cortex of several rows of cells; zone 
of leptome, small ; xylem consisting of a closed ring of tracheae, wood 
fibers and thick-walled parenchyma. The leaves consist of an upper 
epidermal layer made up of cells which are developed to short papillae, 
the walls being strongly thickened and the cuticle finely wrinkled; 
palisade layer with 2 rows of cells; mesophyll consisting of several 
layers of thin-walled cells; lower epidermis resembling those of the 
upper surface but showing more numerous stomata; epidermal 
layer of calyx made up of thick-walled cells developed to short papillae, 
and in which the lunnna is very small. Pollen grains spheroidal, 
yellow, nearly smooth and having 3 pores. 

Constituents. — A bitter principle; a volatile oil; a resin; ery- 
taurin, a colorless crystalline glucoside; erythrocentaurin, a crys- 
talline, tasteless principle, which is colored red on exposure to the 
light. Also mucilage and wax. Centaurium should yield not less 
than 25 per cent of aqueous extract; and the ash should be not more 
than 4 per cent. 



SABATIA 539 

Sabatia. — Sabbatia, American Centaury, Square Stemmed 
Sabbatia or Rose Pink. — The over-ground plant of Sabatia (Sab- 
batia) angularis (Fam. Gentianacese) , a biennial herb growing in rich 
soil and moist meadows throughout the eastern United States and 
Canada. The plant is collected at the time of flowering, during the 
summer, and the commercial drug frequently consists of only the 
stems with their capsular fruits. 

Description. — Stems distinctly 4-angled, except in the lower por- 
tion which may be somewhat cylindrical, branching, the upper 
branches being opposite ; externally very light green to light yellow- 
ish- or pinkish-brown; glabrous throughout and having at the 
angles a thin membranous wing-like ridge, due to the extra develop- 
ment of collenclryma; fracture fibrous; pith hollow. Leaves 
cordate-ovate or oblong, summit acute, base usually more or less 
clasping, margin entire; thin, of an olive-green color and palmately 
3- to 5-nerved. Flowers consisting of a deeply 5-parted calyx having 
lanceolate or linear teeth; corolla rotate, 5-parted, the segments 
being obovate-elliptical, about 1.5 cm. in length and when fresh or 
carefully dried of a rose-pink color otherwise pinkish-brown; stamens 
5, having linear anthers, becoming more or less recurved and revolute; 
ovary oblong, having a long style and a bi-cleft stigma which at first 
is connivent, later spreading and after fertilization, becoming more 
or less twisted. Fruit, a 2-valved, oblong or ovoid capsule, tipped 
with the slender remains of the style, dark brown in color and cov- 
ered with a resin. Seeds numerous ellipsoidal, deeply reticulate from 
0.200 to 0.400 mm. in length. 

Inner Structure. — The stems consist of a thick-walled epidermal 
layer, the cuticle being much wrinkled; a cortex of several layers of 
chlorophyll-containing parenchyma; endodermis and pericycle not 
distinct; the stele of a small zone of leptome, and a compact xylem 
made up chiefly of wood fibers and thick-walled parenchyma and 
relatively few tracheae; the intraxylary leptome is situated at the 
periphery of the pith, being frequently quite separated from the 
xylem; pith of thin-walled parenchyma at the periphery, free from 
starch, being hollow at the center. The structure of the leaf is very 
simple, the chlorenchyma being almost homogeneous in structure, 
and the stomata, which are confined to the dorsal surface, lack sub- 
sidiary cells. 

Constituents. — A bitter principle, 3.75 per cent; erythrocen- 
taurin; a volatile oil; a greenish resin; mucilage; sugars; ash 2.85 
per cent. 

Literature. — Hankey, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1891, p. 335. 



540 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Menyanthes. — Folia Menyanthidis, Folia Trifolii Fibrini, 
Menyanthes Leaves or Marsh Buckbean Leaves. — The leaves 
of Menyanthes trifoliata (Fam. Gentianaceae), a low perennial herb, 
having thick, horizontal rhizomes and growing in bogs in the northern 
United States, and from Greenland to Alaska. The plant is indige- 
nous to Europe and Asia and the leaves are official in several of the 
foreign Pharmacopoeias. The leaves are gathered in May or June, 
at the time of the flowering of the plant, and carefully dried. 

Description. — Leaves, 3-foliate, having long sheathing petioles; 
the latter from 7 to 15 cm. in length, dark brown and finely striate, 
usually much flattened and considerably twisted; leaflets usually 
much broken in the drug, when entire, nearly sessile, elliptical or 
ovate, from 2 to 6.5 cm. in length and 1 to 4 cm. in breadth, summit 
obtuse or rounded, base spatulate, margin entire, occasionally some- 
what undulate, olive-green and glabrous; odor distinct, slight; taste 
very bitter. 

Inner Structure. — Petiole consisting of parenchyma, having large 
intercellular spaces, which shrink to such an extent in the drying of 
the drug as to give it a spirally twisted character. In addition, there 
are usually about 12 fibro vascular bundles, which are arranged in an 
interrupted circle, enclosed by a distinct endodermis. The upper 
and lower surfaces of the leaves are much alike, consisting of polygonal 
cells, which are developed to papillae and in which the cuticle is thick 
and much wrinkled ; the palisade cells are short cylindrical and occur 
in 2 to 4 layers beneath the upper epidermis; the loose mesophyll 
layer consists of nearly isodiametric cells having large intercellular 
spaces. 

Constituents. — A bitter glucoside, menyanthin, yielding on 
hydrolysis glucose and menyanthol. A mixture of fatty acids, 
occurring in the form of esters of cholesterin and ceryl alcohol. A 
reddish-yellow coloring principle, resembling carotin, also cane 
sugar and chlorophyll. Menyanthes should yield not less than 23 
per cent of aqueous or diluted alcohol extractive and not more than 
10 per cent of ash. 

APOCYNACEJE, OR DOGBANE FAMILY 

A large family, comprising over 1000 perennial herbs, shrubs and 
trees. They are very widely distributed, occurring mostly, however, 
in tropical regions. The leaves are usually opposite, the flowers 
regular and 5-merous, and the fruits are either follicles or drupes. 
Non-articulated laticiferous tubes are present in all parts of the 



APOCYNUM 541 

plants of this family. These tubes are very early developed, being 
present even in the embryo. They occur in the pith, are distributed 
throughout the tissues of the bark, and are associated with the vas- 
cular bundles in the veins of the leaf. They usually have thin walls, 
narrow lumina, and the contents may be a caoutchouc-like substance, 
so that on the fracture of the bark it may be drawn out into thin 
threads as in the Celastraceae. The latex may also contain starch 
grains and distinct nuclei. Secretory cells are also present in the 
barks of some of the genera, as Aspidosperma. Bast fibers occur in 
the pericycle, either singly, or in groups. The walls of the tracheae 
are usually marked with simple pores, except when in contact with the 
medullary rays, when the dividing wall possesses bordered pores. 
The wood fibers have either simple pores or bordered pores. The 
medullary rays are narrow. Strands of intraxylary phloem occur 
in the pith. Calcium oxalate is secreted in the form of solitary 
crystals, styloids or rosette aggregates. The non-glandular hairs 
are either unicellular or uniseriate. Glandular hairs are wanting, 
except in the leaves of the oleander, in which the hairs consist of 
several rows of elongated cells, which are covered with a palisade-like 
secretory epidermis. In the oleander the stomata are situated in 
deep pits, which are covered with long hairs. In the leaves of Aspi- 
dosperma the palisade cells are often more or less lignified. In the 
leaves of Strophanthus the subsidiary cells of the stomata are parallel 
to the pores. 

Apocynum. — Canadian Hemp. — The dried root of Apocynum 
cannabinum (Fam. Apocynaceae) , a perennial herb growing in fields 
and thickets in the United States and southern Canada (Fig. 231). 

Description. — Cylindrical, somewhat branched, usually broken 
into pieces 4 to 10 cm. in length, 5 to 10 mm. in diameter; externally 
light brown, longitudinally wrinkled and transversely fissured, with 
few rootlets or rootlet-scars; fracture short; internally, bark light 
brown, 1 mm. in thickness, easily separable from the lemon-yellow, 
porous, slightly radiate wood; odor slight; taste of bark bitter and 
acrid, of wood slightly bitter. 

Stein fragments are distinguished by having a comparatively 
thin, finely fibrous bark and a hollow center. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 232. 

Powder. — Light brown or dark brown; starch grains numerous, 
from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. in diameter, spheroidal, ellipsoidal, ovoid, 
pyriform or more or less irregular, and with a hyaline central cleft 
sometimes more or less altered, swollen; numerous fragments of 
strongly lignified wood fibers, associated with tracheae mostly having 



542 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



bordered pores, occasionally with spiral thickenings; fragments of 
cork layer few, the walls being of a reddish-brown color; an occa- 
sional fragment with long, narrow, thin-walled lacticiferous tubes, 
having a yellowish-brown, granular content. 

Constituents. — Cynotoxin (apocynamarin) , a dilactone of Kiliani's 
oxydigitogenic acid, or of an isomeride, forms small rhombic pyra- 
mids, which are sparingly soluble in water and the usual organic 




Fig. 231. — Apocynum androsaemifolium : A, flowering branch; B, a fruit con- 
sisting of 2 follicles; E, flower; G, longitudinal section of flower; H, single 
stamen with long spurs (s); J, uniseriate hair from leaf; K, tracheae with 
bordered pores (t) and wood fibers (w); L, a few bast fibers and adjoining 
parenchyma cells containing starch. Apocynum cannabinum: C, two of the 
opposite, nearly sessile leaves; D, fruit; F, flower; /, seed with coma of 
long, 1-celled, hyaline hairs. 

solvents, and is extremely bitter. Apocynin (0.2 per cent) occurs 
in slender colorless prisms with a slight odor of vanillin, and is appa- 
rently identical with acetovanillon. There are also present a glu- 
coside, apocynein; a volatile oil; resin; tannin; starch; and from 
10 to 11.6 per cent of ash. 

Apocynum androsaemifolium. — The plant somewhat resembles 
A. cannabinum, but is distinguished by the petiolate leaves, the larger 



STROPHANTHUS 



543 



flowers and follicles (Fig. 231). The root resembles that of A. canna- 
binum, but is easily distinguished by the presence of small groups of 
stone cells in the outer cortex (Fig. 232). 




Fig. 232. — A, transverse section of the root of Apocynum cannabinum showing 
cork (K); laticiferous tubes (L) in the cortex; sieve (S), beneath which is 
the cambium zone; wood fibers (SF), tracheae (T), and medullary rays 
(MR). B, transverse section of the root of Apocynum androssemifolium 
showing in addition groups of stone cells (St) in the cortex. 



Literature. — Holm, Merck's Report, 1910, p. 277; Power, Jour. 
Chem. Soc, 1909, p. 734. 

Strophanthus. — The ripe seeds of Strophanthus Kombe (Fam. 
Apocynacese) , a twining shrub found in Zambesi and other parts of 



544 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



eastern Africa. The plumose awns at the summit of the seeds are 
usually removed before exportation (Fig. 233). 

Description. — Hemi-anatropous, oblong-lanceolate or spatulate, 
acute or acuminate, unevenly flattened and in transverse section 
deltoid or plano-convex, 8 to 15 mm. in length, 3 to 5 mm. in breadth, 
1 to 1.5 mm. in thickness; externally yellowish-green, covered with 
long hairs giving a silky appearance to the seed, the raphe extending 
as a distinct ridge from the hilum about half the length of the seed; 
fracture short; internally whitish, endosperm about 0.2 mm. in 




Fig. 233. — A dehiscent follicle of strophanthus showing plumose seeds. 



thickness, embryo 6 to 12 mm. in length and 1 to 2 mm. in breadth, 
cotyledons plano-convex, about 1 mm. in breadth, hypocotyl conical, 
2 mm. in length; inodorous except when broken; taste very bitter. 

When treated with 90 per cent sulphuric acid the endosperm, in 
about 65 per cent of the seeds, becomes green, turning to brownish- 
green and not reddish; the cotyledons become red or purple and 
finally green, in some instances. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 234.) Outer epidermal layer having 
numerous, non-glandular hairs, which are from 0.200 to 0.800 mm. 
in length, usually more or less bent, thin-walled and slightly lignifled, 
thickened and porous at the base; an inner layer of somewhat col- 



STROPHANTHUS 



545 



lapsed cells and which are more or less turgescent in the raphe, in 
among the cells of which is included a small fibrovascular bundle, 
having numerous spiral tracheae; endosperm of polygonal cells with 
slightly thickened walls and containing an oily cytoplasm small 




Fig. 234. — Transverse section of strophanthus seed; SC, seed-coat with unicel- 
lular non-glandular hairs (H); R, raphe; E, endosperm; C, C, cotyledons 
with fibrovascular bundle (V) and palisade cells (P). 



aleurone grains, and strophanthin, the latter being colored bright 
green upon the addition of sulphuric acid; in the center occur two 
large plano-convex cotyledons having a distinct epidermal layer, a 



546 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



few fibrovascular bundles and numerous parenchyma cells containing 
an oily cytoplasm, small aleurone grains and occasionally a small 
amount of strophanthin. 

Powder. — (Fig. 235.) Grayish-brown; consisting chiefly of 
thin-walled parenchyma cells and fragments of long, thin-walled 
hairs; mounts made with solutions of potassium hydrate or hydrated 
chloral show numerous oil globules; many of the fragments of the 
endosperm are colored greenish upon the addition of sulphuric acid; 




Fig. 235. — Strophanthus : H, fragments of upper portion of non-glandular hairs; 
L, basal portion of non-glandular hairs ; E, cells of endosperm with aleurone 
grains (A ) and starch grains (S) ; P, parenchyma of cotyledons with aleurone 
grains; T, tracheae; C, collapsed cells of seed-coat; A, aleurone grains; 
0, parenchyma containing oil globules. 



neither crystals of calcium oxalate nor stone cells are present; starch 
grains occasional, ellipsoidal, about 0.004 mm. in diameter. 

Constituents. — Strophanthin, a crystalline glucoside occurring 
chiefly in the endosperm and varying from 0.95 to 3 per cent; stro- 
phanthin is colored greenish with sulphuric acid, and yields on 
hydrolysis, glucose and a crystalline body, strophanthidin; the other 
constituents are kombic acid and about 30 per cent of a fixed oil. 

Another principle, pseudo-strophanthin, has been isolated from 
the seeds of some undetermined species of Strophanthus. This 



QUEBRACHO 647 

principle appears to be more powerful than strophanthin, but is 
less satisfactory as a heart tonic. 

Strophanthus Hispidus. — The seeds of this plant were at one time 
considered inferior to those of S. Kombe. This has been shown to be 
erroneous and they are now quite extensively employed . They 
resemble the seeds of S. Kombe but are of a light or dark brown color, 
nearly smooth and very sparingly hairy. The bases of the hairs are 
more strongly lignified. The endosperm layer is not colored so dis- 
tinctly green with sulphuric acid. 

Allied Plants. — The seeds of other species of Strophanthus, grow- 
ing in the same regions with S. Kombe, sometimes occur in commerce. 
Of these the following may be mentioned . The seeds of Strophan- 
thus gratus are spindle-shaped, somewhat flattened, of a light yellow 
or orange-brown color, nearly free from hairs and have a peculiar 
bitter taste. The cells of the endosperm are colored reddish, becom- 
ing violet, with 90 per cent sulphuric acid. The seeds of S. sarmen- 
tosus, a small tree growing in Africa, from Senegal to Kongo Free 
State, are shorter, thicker and more sparingly hairy than those of S. 
Kombe. The seeds of Kickxia africana (Fam. Apocynacese), a tree 
growing in western tropical Africa, are spindle-shaped, not flattened, 
slightly twisted, not hairy and of a reddish-brown color. The cotyle- 
dons are somewhat folded and not parallel as in Strophanthus Kombe. 
With sulphuric acid the seeds are colored brown, changing to red. 

Adulterants. — The seeds of Strophanthus sarmentosus contain 
calcium oxalate and give a red color on treatment with sulphuric acid. 
(U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Literature.— Rowe, A. Ph. A., 1916, 5, p. 1183. 

Aspidosperma. — Quebkacho, Coktex Quebracho, Quebracho 
Blanco or Quebracho Bark. — The dried bark of Aspidosperma 
Quebracho bianco (Fam. Apocynacese), a large tree indigenous to the 
western provinces of the Argentine Republic, Chile, Bolivia and 
southern Brazil. The name Quebracho is often applied to other 
trees, the bark of which is very hard, alluding to the fact that in 
felling the trees the sharp-edged tools applied to them are consider- 
ably dulled and nicked, by the sclerenchymatous tissues of the bark. 
The commercial supplies are obtained from the vicinity of Catamarca 
and Santiago, in northwestern Argentine Republic. 

Description. — In irregular chips or in longitudinal pieces attain- 
ing a length of 20 cm. and a width of 6 cm., bark from 1 to 3.5 cm. in 
thickness; periderm from 3 to 20 mm. in thickness, brownish-gray or 
reddish-brown and deeply furrowed, frequently reticulate with longi- 
tudinal and transverse fissures, the crevices being occasionally fined 



548 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

with the mycelia of a grayish mould ; outer surface of bark from which 
the cork has been separated, light brown or reddish-brown and usually 
more or less roughened; inner surface occasionally with adhering 
wood, otherwise light yellowish-brown to light reddish-brown, longi- 
tudinally finely striate and porous; fracture short-fibrous with pro- 
jecting bast fibers; nearly inodorous; taste bitter and slightly 
aromatic. 

Inner Structure. — Bark consisting of a number of strands of 
reddish-yellow cork, separated by large groups of stone cells, isolated 
bast fibers and parenchyma; inner bark having starch-bearing 
medullary rays, from 1 to 5 cells in width, separating narrow wedges, 
composed of large proninent groups of stone cells in which are occa- 
sionally included one or more thick-walled bast fibers, the latter 
usually single, very thick walled, strongly lignified, and surrounded 
with crystal fibers and starch-bearing parenchyma. 

Powder. — Reddish-brown; bast fibers single, very long and 
surrounded by crystal fibers, the crystals being in prisms frequently 
terminated by pyramids, and from 0.008 to 0.030 mm. in length; 
stone cells in large, thick groups composed of numerous more or less 
tabular cells; cork cells more or less polygonal in outline with thick 
slightly lignified walls; starch grains, from. 0.003 to 0.025 mm. in 
diameter, single or 2- to 4-compound, the individual grains spheroidal, 
ovoid or more or less plano-convex. 

Constituents. — About 1.5 per cent of 6 different alkaloids, the 
most important of which are aspidospermine, 0.17 per cent and 
quebrachine, 0.28 per cent. Aspidospermine is colored brownish 
with sulphuric acid and potassium dichromate, changing to cherry- 
red or purplish. Quebrachine is colored yellow with perchloric acid. 
The other alkaloids are: aspidosamine, which is colored blue by 
sulphuric acid and potassium dichromate; aspidospermatine, which 
is colored deep red by perchloric acid; quebrachamine, which resem- 
bles quebrachine but has a much lower melting point; also hypo- 
quebrachine. In addition, quebracho contains 3.5 per cent of tannic 
acid; a cholesterin-like body, quebrachol; a sugar, quebrachit; and 
a white or greenish-white ash, about 10 per cent. 

Allied Plants. — The bark of Aspidosperma Quebracho Colorado 
contains 20 per cent of tannic acid. A commercial extract is made 
from the bark, which is used in the tanning of leather. 



ASCLEPIAS 549 



ASCLEPIADACE.E, OR MILKWEED FAMILY 

A small family of perennial herbs, comprising about 85 species. 
They are most abundant in North America. The leaves are opposite 
or whorled; the flowers usually have a 5-parted corona between the 
corolla and stamens, which is adnate to one or the other; the fruits 
are follicles. The anatomical characters resemble very closely those 
of the Apocynaceae. Laticiferous cells have the same general char- 
acters and are distributed throughout the plants, as in the Apocyna- 
ceae. The fibrovascular bundles are of the bicollateral type. Cork 
originates either in the epidermal layer or sub-epidermally, the cells 
being mostly thin-walled and tabular. In the pericycle occur either 
solitary or small groups of bast fibers. The latter are not found in 
the secondary cortex. The walls of the tracheae and wood fibers are 
provided with either simple or bordered pores. Calcium oxalate is 
secreted in the form of solitary crystals or rosette aggregates. Both 
the glandular and non-glandular hairs are either unicellular or 
uniseriate. 

Asclepias. — Pleurisy Root or Orange Milkweed Root. — 
The rhizome and roots of Asclepias tuberosa (Fam. Asclepiadaceae), 
a perennial herb (Fig. 236) growing in dry or sandy soil in the eastern 
United States and from Arizona to Texas. It is distinguished from 
all the other species of Asclepias in not having any laticiferous cells. 
The flowers are orange colored and very beautiful. The root grows 
deep in the soil and is usually collected in the fall. The larger fusiform 
rhizome and roots are cut longitudinally to facilitate drying. The 
drug should be carefully dried and preserved. 

Description. — Usually in broken pieces, frequently split longi- 
tudinally; when entire fusiform, from 5 to 15 cm. in length and 
from 0.5 to 3 cm. in thickness; externally light orange-brown, deeply 
longitudinally furrowed, having a few short roots and root scars; 
occasionally somewhat annulate in the upper portion, crown with 
several short stem bases and occasionally deep elliptical scars; frac- 
ture of thin pieces short, of thicker pieces tough; inner surface having 
a thin outer layer of orange-yellow stone cells; cortex thin, whitish; 
xylem, slightly radiate and having numerous cavities due to the 
shrinking of the parenchyma and medullary rays; pith wanting 
except in the rhizome portions, where it is whitish and contains 
numerous yellowish stone cells; odor slight; taste starchy, slightly 
bitter and acrid. 

Inner Structure. — Cork of several layers of thin-walled, tan- 
gentially elongated, slightly lignified cells, which are usually wanting 



550 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



in the older roots; outer cortex composed of a nearly closed ring of 
tangentially elongated groups of stone cells, the walls being bright 
yellow, very thick and marked by prominent branching pores; inner 
bark composed mostly of starch-bearing parenchyma, and cells con- 
taining rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate, the phloem occurring 



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Fig. 236. — Asclepias tuberosa. — Butterfly weed, Pleurisy root, Orange Milk- 
weed. A hairy, perennial herb, very leafy, branching at the summit, and 
having bright, orange-colored flowers in umbels or flat-topped cymes. — 
After Brown. 



as a narrow strand outside the wood wedges, the latter composed 
mostly of wood parenchyma and wood fibers among which are dis- 
tributed a few wide tracheae having simple pores; medullary rays 
very broad consisting of thin-walled, radially elongated starch-bearing 
cells; pith in rhizome composed of starch-bearing parenchyma, 



CONDURANGO 551 

calcium oxalate and large groups of yellowish stone cells, resembling 
those occurring in the outer bark; calcium oxalate in rosette aggre- 
gates from 0.015 to 0.040 mm. in diameter; starch grains occurring 
in the cells of the parenchyma and medullary rays, numerous, from 
0.003 to 0.015 mm. in diameter, single and 2- to many-compound, 
the individual grains spheroidal, plano-convex and irregularly 
polyhedral, having a large central circular marking or transverse 
fissure. 

Powder. — Light brown, consisting of numerous starch grains, 
either isolated or in parenchyma cells; large groups of orange-yellow 
stone cells; a few wide tracheae, having either simple pores or scalari- 
form perforations, and associated with short wood fibers, having thin 
porous walls. 

Constituents. — A yellowish glucoside, asclepiadir, having the 
taste of the drug and apparently the active principle. It is soluble 
in hot water and alcohol, colored green with sulphuric acid and pink 
with nitric acid, changing to purple. Asclepias also contains a vola- 
tile oil; several resins; tannic acid; starch; pectin; gum; a fixed 
oil; and calcium oxalate. 

Condurango. — Cortex Condurango, Condurango Bark. — The 
bark of Marsdenia Condurango (Fam. Asclepiadaceae), a somewhat 
prostrate or climbing shrub, indigenous to the lofty mountains of 
Ecuador and Peru. The bark is official in several of the European 
Pharmacopoeias and is coming into prominence, as an aromatic 
bitter, in the United States. 

Description. — In single quills or transversely curved pieces, from 
4 to 13.5 cm. in length, and from 1 to 6 mm. in thickness; outer 
surface light grayish-brown to dark brown, nearly smooth and 
with numerous lenticels, or having a more or less soft-scaly and 
considerably roughened cork, occasionally with brownish-black 
apothecia of a lichen; inner surface grayish-white or light brown, 
longitudinally striate; fracture short and granular or short-fibrous; 
odor slightly aromatic, especially marked in the fresh drug; taste 
bitter and aromatic. 

Inner Structure. — A periderm consisting of from 5 to 10 rows of 
thin-walled cork cells frequently having yellowish-brown contents; 
a layer of phelloderm of 8 to 10 rows of cells, containing either starch 
grains or membrane crystals of calcium oxalate, the latter in prisms 
from 0.010 to 0.035 mm. in length; a primary cortex of collenchyma 
containing chloroplasts, starch grains, and rosette aggregates of cal- 
cium oxalate from 0.015 to 0.040 mm. in diameter; a pericycle or 
pericambium of tangentially elongated parenchyma cells, with groups 



552 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

of bast fibers and laticiferous cells in an interrupted circle; middle 
bark with large groups of stone cells, varying from nearly isodiametric 
to elongated, sometimes very irregular in form; inner bark with 
medullary rays 1 to 2 cells wide, numerous laticiferous cells accom- 
panied by small groups of sieve cells, parenchyma containing either 
starch grains or rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate, and an occa- 
sional isolated bast fiber or small groups of stone cells. 

Powder. — Light yellowish-brown; stone cells in large groups, the 
individual cells being more or less irregular in shape having very 
thick, porous walls, the lumina being usually filled with air; calcium 
oxalate chiefly in rosette aggregates, occasionally in single prisms, 
mostly from 0.015 to 0.020 mm. in diameter; starch grains, from 
0.003 to 0.015 "mm. in diameter, mostly single, frequently 2- to 4- 
compound; bast fibers non-lignified, very long and from 0.010 to 
0.035 mm. in width; fragments of thin-walled latex cells from 0.015 
to 0.025 mm. in diameter and filled with a granular substance; frag- 
ments of cork grayish- or light yellowish-brown. 

Upon macerating 1 gm. of powdered Condurango with 5 c.c. of 
water and filtering, the filtrate should be clear; and on boiling 
becomes cloudy, assuming its original transparency when cool 
(due to the properties of condurangin) . 

Constituents. — Several glucosidal combinations of condurangin. 
The latter being completely soluble in cold water and precipitated 
upon heating the aqueous solution. It is also soluble in benzene 
and gives a green color with molybdic and sulphuric acids. /3-con- 
durangin is also insoluble in water, but is not affected by Froehde's 
reagent. Condurango also contains 12 per cent of tannic acid; 
0.75 per cent of a deliquescent crystallizable acid; a yellowish-white 
resin; a small quantity of starch; a fixed oil; a fermentable sugar; 
and 10 to 12 per cent of ash. 



CONVOLVULACE^, OR MORNING GLORY FAMILY 

A family of about 900 species, being very abundant in the tropics. 
They are either herbs or shrubs, some being more or less trailing and 
frequently climbing The leaves are alternate, the flowers have 
gamopetalous corollas, and the fruits are capsules. A number of 
the plants are cultivated and some of them as the common morning 
glory (Ipomoea purpurea) are well known for their showy flowers of 
different colors. One of the most useful plants of this family is the 
sweet potato vine (Ipomoea Batatas), a perennial herbaceous vine 



JALAP 553 

extensively cultivated in tropical countries on account of the edible 
tuberous roots. The roots contain from 3 to 10 per cent of sugar 
and 9 to 15 per cent of starch, which occurs in larger proportion in 
plants grown in sub-tropical countries. The starch is a commer- 
cial product and is known as sweet-potato starch or Brazilian 
arrow-root. The starch grains are either single or 2- to 6-com- 
pound, the individual grains from 0.005 to 0.055 mm. in diameter, 
mostly plano-convex, resembling cassava starch grains, also spheroi- 
dal and polyhedral forms occur. 

The plants of the ConvolvulaceaB possess a number of interesting 
anatomical characteristics. Secretory cells, having suberized walls, 
occur either as isolated cells or arranged in long vertical rows. They 
are either oblong or flask-shaped and contain a milky content, which 
is either colorless or yellowish-brown and soluble in alcohol. Laticif- 
erous vessels, consisting of a non-suberized, thick-walled, tubular, 
latex-receptacles, have been found only in Dichondra. The fibro- 
vascular bundles with few exceptions are of the bi-collateral type. 
The tracheae possess simple pores. The wood fibers are marked 
by bordered pores and the medullary rays are narrow. Calcium 
oxalate is secreted in the form of small needles, small rods, solitary 
crystals and rosette aggregates, the latter sometimes occurring in the 
idioblasts of the leaves. The non-glandular hairs usually consist of 

2 cells, the lower or stalk having a suberized wall. The glandular 
hairs usually have a unicellular stalk and a multicellular head. In 
the leaves, the subsidiary cells are placed parallel to the pores of the 
stomata. A very complicated anomalous structure is seen in the 
fleshy roots of jalap and scammony. 

Jalapa. — Jalap. — The tuberous root or tubercle of Exogonium 
Purga (Fam. Convolvulaceae), a perennial twining herb, native of the 
eastern slopes of the Mexican Andes, and cultivated in Jamaica and 
India. The roots are collected in the fall and dried by artificial means, 
the larger ones being first cut into longitudinal pieces. Mexico fur- 
nishes the principal part of the commercial supply, which is exported 
from Vera Cruz. 

Description. — Fusiform, irregularly ovoid or pyriform, upper 
end more or less rounded, lower end obtuse or slightly acuminate; 

3 to 8 cm. in length, 1 to 5 cm. in diameter; externally dark brown, 
deeply and irregularly furrowed longitudinally, otherwise nearly 
smooth or wrinkled, with numerous lenticels 2 to 4 mm. in length 
and few circular rootlet-scars; fracture horny and resinous; Internally 
dark brown and marked by more or less distinct, secondary, concen- 
tric cambium zones; odor fruity; taste starchy and slightly acrid. 



554 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Tubercles which have a specific gravity less than 1.275 and are 
white internally should be rejected. 
Inner Structure. — See Fig. 237. 




Fig. 237. — Transverse section of jalap: Ph, cork cells; Se, resin-secretory cells; 
0, rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate; Si, sieve cells; G. tracheae; C 1 , 
primary cambium; C 2 , secondary cambium. — After Meyer. 



Powder. — (Fig. 238.) Dark yellow or light brown; crystals of 
calcium oxalate in rosette aggregates, 0.010 to 0.035 mm. in diam- 
eter; starch grains ellipsoidal and ovoid, with somewhat excentral 
lamellae, from 0.005 to 0.035 mm. in diameter, 1- to 3-compound 



JALAP 



555 



and in some cases more or less swollen; resin secretory-cells yellowish 
brown; sclerenchymatous fibers few, with simple pores. Tubers 
deficient in resin are lighter in color, contain more starch and less 
calcium oxalate. 

Constituents. — Resin 8 to 12 per cent, 85 to 90 per cent of which 
is insoluble in ether. Power and Rogerson (J. Am. Chem. Soc, 
1910, p. 80) isolated from the ethereal extract of the resin a new 
dihydric alcohol (ipurganol) which crystallizes in colorless needles 
and yields color reactions similar to those given by the phytosterols. 
From the chloroform extract they isolated a small amount of jS- 
methylsesculetin. The petroleum ether extracts showed the pres- 




-pr 



Fig. 238. — Jalap: pr, parenchyma containing unaltered starch grains; pr', 
parenchyma containing swollen starch grains; a, starch grains; K, rosette 
aggregates of calcium oxalate; m, globular mass of resin; sp, fragment of 
tracheae showing bordered pores. — After Vogl. 

ence of palmitic and stearic acids in the free state. On treatment 
with alkalies and dilute sulphuric acid some of the extracts of the 
resins yield a number of acids and there are indications that a por- 
tion of the chloroform extract of the resin is of a glucosidai nature. 
The alcohol extract of the resin, which represented 38.8 per cent of 
the total resin, was obtained, after treatment with animal charcoal, 
in the form of a nearly white powder. When subjected to alkaline 
hydrolysis with baryta, this alcohol extract yielded a number of 
organic acids together with a hydrolyzed resin of very complex 
composition. Jalap also contains a volatile oil, calcium oxalate, 
starch, gum and sugar. 

Allied Plants. — Brazilian Jalap. — During the war several jalap 
substitutes were offered. One of these, known in Brazil as Batata de 



556 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Purga and Batata Purgante, is the root of Piptostegia Pisonis Mart. 
(Fam. Convolvulacese) . It occurs in transverse circular or oval sec- 
tions, from 3 to 8 cm. in diameter and 0.3 to 0.8 cm. in thickness. 
The cut surface is marked with several concentric rings having a pale 
grayish-brown color and numerous dots of a translucent pale resin. 
It contains about 20 per cent of resin and differs from that of other 
drugs obtained from this family (Scoville, Jour. A. Ph. A. 1918, 7, 
p. 785; Farwell, ibid., p. 852; Ewing and Clevenger, ibid., p. 855). 

Resina Drastica. — The drug comes from Mexico and in a general 
way resembles Mexican Scammony. The pieces represent both 
transverse and longitudinal sections of a root somewhat resembling 
Brazilian Jalap but are of a darker color. The cut surface is short- 
fibrous, due to the projections of the fibrovascular bundles. The 
amount of resin is 19.2 per cent. It is of a deep lemon-yellow color 
and gives with ferrous sulphate a dark green color resembling true 
Scammony resin. (Scoville, Jour. Indust. Eng. Chem., 1919, 11, 
p. 335.) 

Turpeth Root or Indian Jalap is the root of Operculina Tur- 
pethum, a plant growing in the East Indies. It contains a resin 
consisting chiefly of turpethin and turpethein, a glucosidal, ether- 
soluble resinoid substance. 

Male Jalap or Orizaba is the root of Ipomcea orizabensis, a plant 
indigenous to Mexico. The drug consists of the entire, spindle- 
shaped roots, or of more or less rectangular pieces, and contains 
about 10 per cent of scammonin. 

Ipomce simulans, indigenous to the eastern slope of the Mexican 
Andes, yields the Tampico jalap, which is more or less uniform in 
thickness, somewhat tortuous, and without any lenticels; it contains 
about 10 per cent of resin, which is completely soluble in ether and 
resembles scammonin. 

Wild jalap is the tuberous root of Ipomcea pandurata, a plant 
growing in the eastern and southern United States. It contains 1.5 
per cent of an active resin. 

From the aerial stems of the common morning glory (Ipomcea 
purpurea Roth) Power and Rogerson (Am. Jour. Pharm., 1908, 
p. 251) isolated a volatile oil and 4.8 per cent of a soft resin of which 
15.5 per cent is soluble in ether. 

The roots and stems of Ipomcea fistulosa, of South America, 
yield 0.2 per cent of jalapin (orizbin), hexose, wax and tannin. 

Literature. — Snyder, Jour. A. Ph. A., 1916, 5, p. 34. 

Compound Powder of Jalap. — Consisting of powdered jalap and 
potassium bitartrate. Very light brown; consisting of numerous 



SCAMMONY 557 

sharp-angular, colorless fragments, mostly somewhat rectangular 
and with straight edges, varying from 0.030 to 0.300 mm. in length, 
insoluble in water or solutions of hydrated chloral and very strongly 
polarizing with a rich display of colors (fragments of crystals of 
potassium bitartrate), numerous starch grains of Jalap, readily 
distinguished without the use of a solution of iodin, usually single, 
occasionally 2- to 3-compound, and varying from 0.003 to 0.035 mm. 
in diameter; occasional fragments of laticiferous cells or vessels having 
yellowish-brown walls, or tracheae with bordered pores, and rosette 
aggregates of calcium oxalate from 0.010 to 0.035 mm. in diameter 
occurring in Jalap. 

Scammonle Radix. — Levant Scammony Root. — The root of 
Convolvulus Scammonia (Fam. Convolvulacese), a perennial twining 
herb indigenous to the countries bordering the eastern Mediterranean. 
On account of the difficulty in securing the pure resin of scammony, 
the root of this plant is now largely used as the source of the resin, 
the latter being the drastic purgative principle. 

Description. — Nearly cylindrical, more or less fusiform, occa- 
sionally in broken pieces; from 10 to 25 cm. in length and 1 to 4.5 
cm. in thickness; externally grayish to reddish-brown; usually 
distinctly twisted, deeply longitudinally furrowed, marked by 
distinct root scars, otherwise nearly smooth except for the lenticels 
and abraded cork, the upper portion terminated usually by a number 
of short stem branches; hard and heavy; fracture tough, irregular 
with projecting wood fibers; internally somewhat mottled, showing 
yellowish, porous wood-wedges separated by whitish parenchyma 
containing starch and resin; bark thin; odor slight, resembling that 
of jalap; taste somewhat sweetish becoming slightly acrid. 

Inner Structure. — A thin corky layer consisting of yellowish- 
brown, thin-walled, lignified cork cells; primary cortex having 
numerous stone cells occurring singly or in small groups, the walls 
being moderately thick, porous and not strongly lignified; paren- 
chyma with numerous starch grains and monoclinic prisms of cal- 
cium oxalate; fibrovascular bundles numerous, circular or elliptical 
with a well-developed xylem consisting of wide trachea? surrounded 
with slightly lignified wood fibers; phloem prominent and in which 
are included the large resinous laticiferous cells; the parenchyma 
surrounding the bundles are more or less collapsed and contain either 
starch grains or calcium oxalate crystals. 

Powder. — Light grayish-brown; starch grains, from 0.003 to 
0.018 mm. in diameter, mostly single, occasionally 2- to 4-com- 
pound the grains showing occasionally a central cleft; calcium 



558 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

oxalate crystals in monoclinic prisms from 0.010 to 0.045 mm. in 
length, fragments of leptome associated with yellowish-brown 
resinous laticif erous cells ; trachea? mostly with reticulate thickenings 
or simple and bordered pores and associated with short wood fibers 
having prominent oblique pores; stone cells of variable shape and 
varying from 0.040 to 0.110 mm. in length, the walls being from 
0.006 to 0.012 mm. in thickness, slightly lignified arid traversed with 
prominent often branching pores; lignified cork cells relatively few. 

Constituents. — The root contains from 4 to 13 per cent of resin, 
which is of an exceedingly complex nature, consisting to a large 
extent of the glucosides and methyl pentosides of jalapinolic acid 
and its methyl ester. Also from 20 to 33 per cent of dextrose; 2.5 
per cent of saccharose; tannic acid; and gum. 

Scammoniae Mexicana Radix. — The root of Mexican Scammony, 
Ipomcea orizabensis, a perennial, twining shrub indigenous to Mexico, 
is also often seen on the market and on account of the high resin 
content, the latter is to some extent sold for or admixed with that 
obtained from Levant Scammony. It is not infrequent to find the 
two drugs confused, that is, the one under the label of the other. 

Mexican Scammony usually occurs in nearly flattened, trans- 
verse segments, varying from 2 to 12 cm. in diameter and from 
1 to 5.5 cm. in thickness; externally light to dark brown, very 
deeply wrinkled, fragments showing the crown frequently have 
portions of the cylindrical rhizome attached, having large circular 
stem scars; fragments of the lower portion of the roots having numer- 
ous short, cylindrical, somewhat spirally twisted root branches; 
fracture tough, fibrous; inner surface light brown; characterized by 
alternating zones of collateral fibrovascular bundles formed by 
successive cambiums, separated by broad strands of parenchyma and 
brown resinous laticif erous cells; odor distinct, somewhat aromatic 
and resembling jalap. 

The inner structure of Mexican scammony is as follows: A thin 
outer corky layer consisting of several rows of brownish, thin-walled, 
narrow tabular cells; phelloderm of several layers of colorless, thin- 
walled cells; a broad cortical layer made up of thick-walled, tangen- 
tially elongated cells, containing either starch grains or crystals of 
calcium oxalate and numerous large brownish resinous laticiferous 
cells, containing not infrequently a yellowish-brown, amorphous 
content; alternate rings or zones of collateral fibrovascular bundles 
separated by broad medullary rays; fibrovascular bundles consisting 
of wide tracheae marked by simple pores, and associated with numer- 
ous, relatively thick-walled wood fibers, having bordered pores; 



SCAMMONY 559 

cambium distinct ; leptome narrow in somewhat hemispherical strands 
outside of the xylem wedges; resinous laticiferous cells, numerous, 
having a yellowish-brown, amorphous content, and occurring through- 
out the parenchyma and medullary rays; calcium oxalate crystals 
numerous, chiefly in the form of rosette aggregates, only occasionally 
occurring in the form of rhombohedra, from 0.015 to 0.040 mm. in 
diameter; starch grains numerous, single 2- to 3-compound, the 
individual grains from 0.005 to 0.035 mm. in diameter, varying from 
spheroidal, ellipsoidal, plano-convex, to somewhat polyhedral, and 
usually with a transverse central cleft. 

Mexican scammony root yields from 6 to 18 per cent of a glu- 
cosidal resin, and of which about 71 per cent is soluble in ether. 
The root also contains a pale yellow volatile oil, scopoletin, and 
3 : 4-dihydroxycinnamic acid. The petroleum ether extract of the 
resin contains hentriacontane, a phytosterol, cetyl alcohol, and 
a mixture of fatty acids. The ether extract contains ipuranol, 
d-a-methylbutyric acid, and a product which on hydrolysis yields 
jalapinolic acid. — Power and Rogerson, Jour. Chem. Soc, 1912, p. 1. 

Scammonle Resina. — Levant Scammony Resin. — A gum-resin 
obtained by incising the root of Convolvulvus Scammonia (Fam. 
Convovulacese), a perennial, twining herb indigenous to Syria, Asia 
Minor and Greece. The incisions are made in the upper part of the 
root in June, and the exuding gum-resin is collected in mussel shells, 
the product from a number of roots being mixed together, after which 
it is allowed to dry. The principal points of export are Smyrna and 
Aleppo. The natural exudation, free from extraneous matter, is 
known as native or virgin scammony. 

Smyrna Scammony. — In circular, flattened cakes, 10 to 12 cm. 
in diameter and about 1 cm. in thickness or irregular, angular pieces 
of variable size; greenish-gray or brownish-black, often covered 
with a grayish-white powder, formed by the rubbing of the pieces 
against one another in transportation; very brittle; fracture sharp; 
internally porous, lustrous and of a uniform brownish-black color, 
being more or less translucent in thin fragments; odor peculiar, 
somewhat cheese-like; taste slightly acrid. 

Scammony is easily powdered and forms a milky emulsion with 
water. It does not effervesce on the addition of diluted hydrochloric 
acid (absence of calcium carbonate); an alcoholic solution is not 
colored blue on the addition of tincture of ferric chloride (absence of 
guaiac resin); ether dissolves not less^than 70 per cent (distinction 
from jalap resin), and when the residue on evaporation of the ethereal 
solution is dissolved in a hot solution of potassium hydrate it is not 



560 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

reprecipitated on the addition of diluted sulphuric acid. The 
saponification number of genuine scammony resin is from 238 to 
240.5. 

Constituents. — From 75 to 95 per cent of a glucosidal resin (scam- 
monin), which is completely soluble in ether; gum, 5 to 8 per cent; 
ash, not more than 3 per cent. Scammonin is apparently identical 
with the resin in Ipomcea orizabensis and the ether-soluble resin in 
jalap. It occurs as a white powder, which on treatment with alkalies 
yields the glucoside scammonic acid. The latter on hydrolysis 
decomposes into scammonolic acid and glucose. An anhydride of 
scammonolic acid, scammonol, some valerianic acid and sugar are 
formed on treating scammonin with mineral acids. The peculiar 
cheese-like odor of the resin is due to the formation of a volatile, 
fatty acid during the drying process. 

Adulterants. — Scammony is adulterated with inorganic sub- 
stances, various starchy products, foreign resins, such as guaiac, 
and an extract of the juice of the root of Convolvulus althseoides, 
a plant indigenous to the countries of the Mediterranean. 

Montpelier Scammony is the natural exudation of Marsdenia 
erecta (Fam. Asclepiadacese), a plant indigenous to southern Europe. 
It contains 50 to 60 per cent of starch, 10 to 21 per cent of resin, 
and yields 11 to 18 per cent of ash. 

Literature. — Power, Jour. Chem, Soc, 1912, p. 398. 



HYDROPHYLLACEiE, OR WATERLEAF FAMILY 

A family of about 160 species of herbs and shrubs, mostly indigen- 
ous to western North America. The leaves are opposite, the flowers 
are regular and 5-merous, and the fruits are capsular. From the 
supposition, that in the springtime the leaves of the plants were filled 
with water, the family received its name. There is no special ana- 
tomical structure indicating on what this might be based. The 
leaves differ in structure very little from those of other plants. The 
leaves are bifacial and the stomata usually occur only on the lower 
surface, being surrounded by an indefinite number of ordinary epi- 
dermal cells. The non-glandular hairs are usually unicellular, rarely 
uniseriate, occasionally encrusted with calcium carbonate, or may 
contain a cystolith-like body. Glandular hairs are widely distributed 
and are of a number of distinct types. Calcium oxalate occurs in 
the form of rosette aggregates. The general structure of the plants 
of this family is given under Eriodictyon. 



YERBA SANTA 561 

Eriodictyon. — Yerba Santa. — The dried leaves of Eriodictyon 
calif ornicum (Syn. E. glutinosum), Fam. Hydrophyllaceae, an 
evergreen shrub indigenous to the mountains of California and north- 
ern Mexico. 

Description. — Usually broken into fragments; lamina lanceolate, 
7 to 15 cm. in length, 1 to 3 cm. in breadth; summit acute; base 
acute, slightly tapering into the petiole; margin nearly entire or 
unevenly serrate; upper surface yellowish-green, glabrous, resinous; 
under surface grayish-green, reticulate, minutely tomentose between 
the reticulations, midrib light yellow, prominent; petiole 5 to 10 
mm. in length; texture coriaceous, brittle; odor and taste balsamic. 

Inner Structure. — Cells of upper epidermis somewhat papillose, 
which in surface view are polygonal, the walls being nearly straight 
or slightly undulate, the cuticle being striated ; deep seated, resinous 
glandular hairs also occur on the upper epidermis, which resemble 
those of the Labiate having usually a 1-celled stalk and a 6- to 8- 
celled glandular head, about 0.100 mm. in diameter; palisade cells 
very narrow, from 2 to 6 rows deep containing numerous chloro- 
plastids ; cells of loose mesophyll very few ; fibrovascular tissues not 
strongly developed except in the midrib and more prominent veins; 
lower epidermal cells having undulate, polygonal walls and in addi- 
tion to the glandular hairs there occur numerous 1-celled, much 
contorted, thick-walled, non-glandular hairs. 

Stems Usually show a sub-epidermal cork, the cells having wide 
lumina and thin walls; primary cortex of 10 to 20 rows of more or 
less rounded parenchyma cells ; pericy cle consisting of a nearly closed 
ring of bast fibers; leptome in a narrow zone outside the xylem 
wedges; the latter consisting of tracheae, having narrow lumina and 
marked by spiral thickenings and simple pores, and associated with 
lignified wood fibers having bordered pores; medullary rays one cell 
in width; pith very large, the walls of the cells being strongly lignified 
and with numerous simple pores. 

Powder. — Dark green; non-glandular hairs numerous, uni- 
cellular, much contorted and from 0.120 to 0.250 mm. in length; 
glandular hairs having a 1-celled stalk and a 6- to 8-glandular head ; 
fragments of stems show tracheae having spiral thickenings and sim- 
ple pores, associated with lignified wood fibers; parenchyma cells of 
pith possess thick, porous, strongly lignified walls. 

Constituents. — A resin consisting of pentatriacontan, cerotinic 
acid, formic acid, butyric acid and probably also triacontan, phy- 
tosterin, xanthoeriodictyol, priodonal and a phenol, chrysoerio- 
dictyol. The latter occurring to the extent of 0.009 per cent and 



562 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

forming golden yellow, tabular crystals. Xanthoeriodictyol, 0.019 
per cent, occurring in golden yellow needles. Also a volatile oil; a 
crystalline body, eriodictyonon (homoeriodictyol) ; a tannin, giving 
a green color with ferric salts; sugar; fixed oil; and gum. 
Literature. — Tutin, Jour. Chem. Soc, 1910, p. 2054. 

BORAGINACEiE OR BORAGE FAMILY 

A family of about 1200 species which are especially abundant in 
the Mediterranean region and extending into central Europe and 
Asia. The plants are mostly herbaceous and rough, hairy. The 
leaves are generally alternate and the inflorescence is one-sided 
(dorsi-ventral) . The family is characterized by both glandular 
and non-glandular hairs. Of special importance are the unicellular 
cystolith-hairs (bristle hairs). Calcium oxalate occurs in the forms 
of prisms, rosette aggregates and microcrystals. 

Alkanna. — Alkanet. — The root of Alkanna tinctoria (Fam. 
Boraginacese) , a perennial herb, indigenous to southeastern Europe 
and Asiatic Turkey and also cultivated for its coloring principle. 

Description. — Fusiform, simple, 3 to 30 cm. in length, 5 to 20 mm. 
in diameter; externally deep reddish-purple, or maroon color, some- 
times twisted deeply furrowed, the outer layers readily separating 
in papery strips, the crown being frequently several-headed and 
consisting of the bases of the leaves which are bristly hairy; frac^ 
ture short; internally bark thin, wood yellowish brown; odor slight; 
taste insipid or faintly bitter and stringent. 

Constituents. — A coloring principle, Alkannin (Anchurin), amor- 
phous and resin-like. The amount varies from 5 to 6 per cent, is 
insoluble in water, soluble in alcohol, chloroform, ether and oils. 
The solutions in alkalies are of a deep blue color changing to red on 
the addition of acids. Gawalowski separated Alkannin into two 
acids: (a) alkanic acid soluble in ether and alcohol and turning blue 
with alkalies; (b) anchuric acid soluble in benzene and turning 
green with alkalies. 

Adulterants. — Syrian Alkanet, the root of Macrotonia cephalotes 
(Fam. Boraginacese) is readily distinguished. The roots vary 
from 20 to 40 cm. in length 2 to 5 cm. in thickness, many-headed and 
of a black-violet somewhat metallic color. (Ewing and Clevenger, 
Jour. A. Ph. A., 1918, 7, p. 591.) It contains a very large quantity 
of coloring matter, apparently of equal tinctorial strength and it is 
suggested that it may prove to be a valuable substitute for true 
Alkanet. 



VERBENA 563 

VERBENACE.E, OR VERVAIN FAMILY 

A family of 1200 species of shrubs or trees, especially distributed 
in the tropics and sparingly represented in the cooler regions. The 
leaves are opposite or verticillate; the flowers are irregular, having a 
bi-labiate or irregular corolla, and didynamous stamens; the fruits 
are either drupe-like or somewhat capsular, consisting of 2 to 4 
nutlets. The stems are not infrequently quadrangular in section. 
The tracheae and wood fibers usually have simple pores. The 
stomata are surrounded by a number of ordinary epidermal cells, 
occasionally they possess 2 subsidiary cells which are distributed 
transversely to the pore. Calcium oxalate occurs in the form of small 
acicular or prismatic crystals. The glandular hairs have a unicellular 
or uniseriate stalk, the head being composed of 6 to 8 cells. A num- 
ber of types of non-glandular hairs occur in the various genera of 
this family. An anomalous structure is developed in some of the 
lianes. 

Verbena. — American Blue Verbain or Wild Hyssop. — The 
over-ground plant of Verbena hastata (Fam. Verbenacese), a perennial 
herb, growing in moist meadows throughout the central and eastern 
United States. The plant is gathered at the time of flowering, during 
the summer, and should be carefully dried and preserved. 

Description. — Stems quadrangular, attaining a length of 1 or 
more M., and from 1 to 6 mm. in diameter; externally reddish- 
brown, longitudinally wrinkled and having a deep furrow between 
the ribs, rough puberulent throughout; internally yellowish-white 
with a thin brown bark, a yellowish-white quadrangular wood 
and a hollow pith. Leaves opposite, long petiolate, from 4 to 15 
cm. in length and 0.7 to 4 cm. in width; lanceolate or oblong-lanceo- 
late, summit acute tapering; base rounded, inequilateral; margin 
sharply serrate; upper surface greenish-brown, glabrous; lower 
surface purplish-green, rough puberulent, with a prominent midrib 
and veins of the first order, the latter diverging at an angle of about 
65° and uniting near the margin; petioles 1 to 3 cm. in length, slender, 
and rough puberulent; odor distinct; taste bitter. 

Constituents. — A glucoside, verbenalin, which crystallizes in 
needles and is apparently non-toxic. Also a bitter principle, tannic 
acid, emulsin, and invertin. 

Lippia Mexicana. — Orosul, Regaliz de Cuba. — The leaves of 
Lippia dulcis (Fam. Verbenacese), a trailing shrub, widely distributed 
in tropical America. The leaves are gathered at the time of the 
flowering of the plant, from November to March, and carefully dried. 



564 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Description. — Leaves more or less crumpled; when entire, ovate- 
lanceolate, petiolate, summit acute or acuminate, base cuneate, 
somewhat unequal, margin coarsely serrate; olive-green to greenish- 
brown, glandular-hairy, midrib and veins of the first and second 
order prominent; petioles from 5 to 10 mm. in length; odor aromatic; 
taste sweetish, terebinthinate and slightly pungent. 

Inner Structure. — The leaves are especially characterized by the 
long-pointed, unicellular, thick-walled hairs from 0.150 to 0.300 mm. 
in length, and containing a cystolith at the base; glandular hairs 
having short stalks and a 6- to 8-celled head, the latter from 0.015 
to 0.030 mm. in diameter, and having a nearly colorless content; 
epidermal cells wavy in outline; stomata elliptical, from 0.015 to 
0.035 mm. in length, and having the neighboring cells transverse to 
the pore. 

Constituents. — A volatile oil containing a camphor, lippiol; 
tannic acid, colored greenish with ferric salts; and a yellow coloring 
principle resembling quercetin. 

Lippia Scaberrima. — An aromatic drug of South Africa reputed to 
possess remarkable haemostatic properties. The drug contains about 
0.25 per cent of a volatile oil; a crystalline alcohol, lippianol; two 
3'cllow crystalline substances; a glucosidal substance; and a number 
of acids and esters. — Power and Tutin, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1907, 
p. 449. 

LABIATE, OR MINT FAMILY 

A large family of herbs and shrubs, comprising about 3000 
species and widely distributed. There are about 40 different genera 
of the Labiatse represented in the United States. They are char- 
acterized by having square stems, opposite leaves, bilabiate flowers 
and small indehiscent fruits consisting of 4 nutlets. The plants of 
the Labiatse are especially characterized by the development of 
glandular hairs containing a volatile oil. These hairs consist of a 
short unicellular stalk, and a glandular head consisting of 6 or 8 
cells, the upper portion being raised like a bladder owing to the great 
accumulation of volatile oil. In the dried drug material these hairs 
usually appear as spheroidal bodies, about 0.100 mm. in diameter 
filled with a yellowish oily secretion, in which the cellular structure is 
frequently not easily discernible. The non-glandular hairs occur in 
a number of specific forms. In the stomata the subsidiary cells lie 
transverse to the pore. Calcium oxalate is secreted in the form of 
small needles or short rods, rarely as rosette aggregates. The 



SKULLCAP 565 

tracheae and wood fibers have simple pores. There is a strong 
development of sub-epidermal collenchyma, especially in the angles 
of the stems and branches. A secondary development of the fibro- 
vascular bundles occurs in the older stems of thymus. 

Scutellaria. — Skullcap. — The dried herb of Scutellaria lateri- 
flora (Fam. Labiatse), a perennial herbaceous plant growing in wet 
places in the United States and Canada. The plant blooms from 
July to September, when the herb should be collected. 

Description. — Stem quadrangular, 1 to 4 mm. in diameter, vary- 
ing in color from yellowish-green to purplish-red, mostly glabrous 
below and hairy above. Leaves (Fig. 239) ovate, ovate-oblong, or 
ovate-lanceolate, opposite, 1.5 to 8 cm. in length, 0.5 to 2.5 cm. in 
breadth; summit acute or acuminate; base acute, rounded or sub- 
cordate; margin coarsely serrate; upper surface dark green, glabrous; 
under surface light green, nearly smooth, veins of the first order 
diverging at an angle of 65°, curving upward and anastomosing near 
the margin; petiole 2 to 10 mm. in length. Flowers axillary and 
solitary above or in 1-sided racemes; calyx campanulate, toothed, 
about 2 mm. in length; corolla white or blue, about 6 mm. in length, 
the limb 2-lipped; stamens 4, didynamous, hairy, the anthers of the 
upper pair with 2 pollen sacs, the lower with one; style unequally 
2-cleft and ovary deeply 4-parted. Fruit (Fig. 239) consisting of 
4 ellipsoidal, distinctly tuberculate, light brown nutlets about 1 mm. 
in length, borne on an enlarged torus known as the gynobase, and 
enclosed by the persistent bilabiate calyx, the upper part of which 
becomes helmet-shaped after fertilization, whence the name " Skull- 
cap "; odor slight; taste bitter. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 239. 

Powder. — Dark green; non-glandular hairs, 1- to 3-celled, 0.100 
to 0.200 mm. in length, the walls with numerous slight centrifugal 
projections, the basal cell being large, broadly cylindrical, and the 
apical cell narrow and with a sharp, frequently recurved summit; 
glandular hairs with a 1- to 2-celled stalk and large, glandular head, 
composed of 6 or 8 cells divided by vertical walls, indistinct; pollen 
grains nearly spheroidal or ellipsoidal, smooth and from 0.015 to 
0.025 mm. in diameter; fragments of corolla colored light pink with 
hydrated chloral solution; narrow tracheae with scalariform and 
reticulate thickenings, or bordered pores; sclerenchymatous fibers 
narrow, with walls from 0.004 to 0.005 mm. in thickness and marked 
by simple pores; epidermal cells of stem and corolla with distinct 
striations; the stomata broadly elliptical and with very small open- 
ings. In Scutellaria canescens the non-glandular hairs are 3- to 



566 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



5-celled and vary in length from 0.3 to 1 mm.; the glandular hairs 
have a 4-celled stalk and 8-celled head, are larger and more prom- 
inent than in S. lateriflora; and the stomata are narrowly elliptical 
(Fig. 239). 




Fig. 239. — Scutellaria lateriflora: A, portion of branch showing the ovate, 
serrate leaves and the axillary one-sided racemes. B, lower surface of leaf 
showing elliptical stomata. C, D, hairs from the stem and lower surface of 
leaf. E, section of flower showing calyx (c), with crest on one side, 2-lipped 
corolla (p), the didynamous stamens (s), and 4-locular ovary (n). F, pollen 
grain 0.018 mm. in diameter. Hairy skullcap (Scutellaria pilosa). G, 
branch showing crenate leaves and helmet-shaped capsular fruits. H, 
capsule after dehiscence showing nutlets (n). Scutellaria canescens: /, 
view of lower surface of leaf showing numerous broadly elliptical stomata 
and wavy cuticle. J, K, hairs from the leaf. 



Constituents. — A bitter crystalline glucoside scutellarin; a 
small quantity of volatile oil, of which little is known. 

Allied Plants. — Several species of Scutellaria growing in the 
United States are sometimes substituted for the genuine drug, 



HOREHOUND 567 

nearly all of which have the flowers in terminal panicled racemes. 
Heart-leaved skullcap (Scutellaria cordifolia) is densely glandular 
pubescent, even the corolla being hairy; Hairy skullcap (S. pilosa) 
is pubescent below, with numerous glandular hairs above, and the 
corolla is nearly glabrous; Hyssop skullcap (S. integrifolia) has linear 
entire upper leaves; in Marsh skullcap (S. galericulata) the flowers 
occur in the axils of the nearly sessile, narrow leaves. The Euro- 
pean skullcap (S. altissima) has broad, ovate, glabrous leaves and 
terminal panicles of blue flowers. 

Substitutes. — Scutellaria canescens, a plant growing west of the 
Mississippi, furnishes much of the drug on the market. The plant 
is more robust than S. lateriflora; the leaves are oblong, petiolate, 
10 to 12 cm. in length, 3 to 5 cm. in breadth, very hairy on the under 
surface, with prominent veins, and crenate-dentate margins; and 
the flowers are large, blue and in terminal racemes (Fig. 239) . 

Literature. — Holm, Merck's Report, 1911, p. 247. 

Marrubium. — White Horehound. — The leaves and flowering 
tops of Marrubium vulgare (Fam. Labiatse), a perennial herb indig- 
enous to Europe and Asia, and cultivated in various parts of Europe 
and the United States, being naturalized in waste places from Texas 
and Mexico to Maine and Ontario. 

Description. — Stem quadrangular, yellowish- or grayish-green, 
3 to 5 mm. in diameter, very pubescent; internodes 2 to 5 cm. in 
length. Leaves broadly ovate, opposite, 1.5 to 6 cm. in length, 
8 to 25 mm. in breadth; summit obtuse; base acute or rounded; 
margin coarsely crenate; upper surface dark green, pubescent, veins 
depressed, those of the first order diverging at an angle of about 65° 
and branching near the margin; under surface grayish-green, very 
pubescent, veins prominent; petiole 0.5 to 3 cm. in length, very 
pubescent. Flowers sessile, in axillary clusters; calyx tubular, 
about 5 mm. in length, 5- to 10-nerved, very pubescent and with 10 
recurved, bristle-like lobes; corolla whitish or light brown, about 
7 mm. in length, upper lip erect, entire or bifid, lower lip 3-lobed, the 
middle lobe the largest and emarginate; stamens four, included. 
Nutlets brownish-black, ellipsoidal, slightly compressed, about 1.5 
mm. in length, nearly smooth. Odor slight aromatic. Taste 
aromatic and bitter. 

Inner Structure. — Non-glandular hairs of 3 types, (a) short, 
unicellular hairs; (b) long-pointed, unicellular hairs, having papillose 
walls; and (c) branched or tufted, multicellular hairs, having from 
6 to 15 cells radiating from a central stalk. Glandular hairs of 2 
types having either a short, or long stalk, and a 2- to 8-celled gland- 



568 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

ular head. Epidermal cells of both surfaces more or less tabular, 
the walls being but slightly undulate. 

Powder. — Dark green; non-glandular hairs frequently consider- 
ably twisted, 1- to 7-celled, thin-walled, smooth, frequently arranged 
in stellate groups of 6 to 15, and spreading from the base; glandular 
hairs with 1-celled stalk and 4- to 8-celled glandular head; pollen 
grains spheroidal about 0.025 mm. in diameter, and with numerous 
spinose projections; tracheae spiral, annular or reticulate, slightly 
lignified ; sclerenchymatous fibers thin-walled, nonlignified and with 
few simple pores. 

Constituents. — A bitter, somewhat acrid principle, marrubiin 
0.02 to 4 per cent, which forms prismatic crystals and is sparingly 
soluble in water ; several other bitter principles; a volatile oil; a 
resin; and tannin. 

Allied Plants. — Black horehound or Marrubium peregrinum, an 
herb of the old world, possesses ovate or lanceolate, dentate-serrate, 
grayish, hairy leaves and flowers having straight calyx-lobes. Ballota 
nigra (Fam. Labiatse) has cordate, rough-hairy, dark green leaves, 
pale purple flowers and a disagreeable odor. Water horehound or 
Lycopus europaeus possesses ovate-lanceolate, lobed or divided 
leaves, the calyx lobes being triangular. 

Adulterant. — The commercial drug consists at times of Ballota 
hirsuta. (U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Mentha Piperita. — Peppermint. — The leaves and flowering 
tops of Mentha piperita (Fam. Labiatse), a perennial herb (Fig. 240) 
indigenous to Europe, naturalized in the eastern and central United 
States and Canada, and cultivated in Michigan and New York. 
Peppermint should be collected during dry weather, in August and 
September, when the plant is in flower, and carefully dried and pre- 
served. Peppermint is cultivated in Michigan chiefly for its volatile 
oil. This State produces annually over 6800 K. of peppermint oil. 
Wayne County, in New York State, produces 1480 K. ; Indiana State, 
1280 K., and other localities about 40 K. annually. Japan pro- 
duces about 70,000 K. annually; England, 9000 K.; France, 3000 
K.; Russia, 1200 K.; Germany, 800 K, and Italy, 600 K. 

Description. — Stem quadrangular, 1 to 3 mm. in diameter, pur- 
plish-green, with scattered deflexed hairs, internodes 1.5 to 5 cm. in 
length. Leaves ovate-lanceolate, opposite, 1.5 to 8 cm. in length, 
0.5 to 2.5 cm. in breadth; summit acute; base acute or rounded; 
margin sharply serrate; upper surface dark green, midrib and veins 
rose-colored, the latter diverging at an angle of about 60°, curving 
upward and uniting near the margin; under surface light green, 



- PEPPERMINT 569 

slightly pubescent on the veins, glandular-pubescent; petiole 4 to 10 
mm. in length, slightly pubescent. Inflorescence in axillary whorls 
or in compact spikes; peduncle wanting or about 3 mm. in length, 
pedicel about 1 mm. in length; calyx tubular, equally 5-toothed, 
about 2 mm. in length, purplish, glandular-punctate; corolla tubular, 
nearly regular, 4-cleft, about 3 mm. in length, purplish; stamens 
four, erect, distant. Nutlets ellipsoidal, about 0.4 mm. in diameter, 
blackish-brown. Odor aromatic; taste aromatic, followed by a 
cooling sensation. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 240). 

Crystals of menthol may be observed in the glandular hairs of 
Mentha piperita, if the sections are kept at a temperature near 
0° C, or by placing the sections in a freshly preserved solution of 
ammonium nitrate (50 per cent.). The crystals separate in aggre- 
gates consisting of small needles. Photomicrographs of menthol in 
form of small rods and aggregates of needles are illustrated in Krae- 
mer's Applied and Economic Botany, p. 326. 

Powder. — Dark green; non-glandular hairs 1- to 8-celled, thin- 
walled, with numerous papillose projections; glandular hairs two 
kinds, 1- or 3-celled stalk and 1- or 8-celled glandular head; pollen 
grains somewhat spheroidal, smooth, about 0.035 mm. in diameter; 
trachea? spiral, or with simple and bordered pores, and slightly lig- 
nified; sclerenchymatous fibers thin-walled, non-lignified, with 
numerous oblique pores. Contamination with M. spicata is said to 
be common. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil, containing 50 to 60 per cent of men- 
thol, about 1 per cent; resin and tannin. American peppermint oil 
consists of about 17 different chemical constituents, a larger number 
than is found in any other oil. The most important constituent is 
the stearoptene menthol, of which 40 to 45 per cent is free and 8 to 14 
per cent is combined in various esters. Menthol occurs in colorless, 
acicular crystals, which are insoluble in water but soluble in alcohol, 
and on boiling with a sulphuric acid solution (50 per cent) it becomes 
of a deep blue color, the acid solution becoming brown. American 
peppermint oil also contains: Acetaldehyde, isovaleraldehyde, acetic 
acid, valerianic acid, pinene, phellandrene, cineol, 1-limonene, men- 
thone, menthyl acetate, menthyl iso-valerianate, menthyl ester, a 
lactone cadinene, amyl alcohol, and dimethyl sulphide. 

English Peppermint oil is very highly prized on account of 
its fine aroma and pleasant taste. It consists of 50 to 60 per cent 
of free menthol, 3 to 14 per cent of menthol combined as esters, 
and 9 to 12 per cent of menthole, a substance capable of being trans- 



570 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



farmed into menthol. This oil also contains : Phellandrene, limonene, 
cadinene, acetic acid and iso-valerianic acid. 




Fig. 240. — Peppermint (Mentha piperita) : B, portion of shoot showing petiolate 
leaves. C, transverse section of leaf showing several forms of glandular 
hairs on lower surface, loose parenchyma (m) and palisade cells (p). D, 
lower surface of leaf showing stoma (s) and glandular hair (g). Spearmint 
(Mentha spicata): A, portion of shoot showing flowers and nearly sessile 
leaves. E, flower. F, outspread corolla showing cleft posterior lobe (p) 
and the four adnate, included stamens. G, H, hairs from calyx. 7, sphere 
crystals (sphserites) of a carbohydrate found in the corolla and style. /, 
pollen grains. 



Japanese Peppermint oil is obtained from Mentha arvensis 
piperascens. The oil has a bitter taste and consists of free men- 



SPEARMINT 571 

thol, 65 to 85 per cent; menthol combined as esters, 3 to 6 per cent; 
and a body isomeric with borneol. 

Mentha Viridis. — Spearmint. — The leaves and flowering tops 
of Mentha spicata (Syn. Mentha viridis), Fam. Labiatse, a perennial 
herb (Fig. 240) , indigenous to Europe and cultivated and naturalized 
in various parts of North America. It should be collected in the same 
manner as peppermint. 

Spearmint is extensively cultivated in Michigan and New York, 
these States producing annually about 500 K. of volatile oil. 

Description. — Closely resembling peppermint (see Mentha piper- 
ita), but the stems are usually more purple, the leaves sessile or 
nearly so, inflorescence either in slender, interrupted cylindrical 
spikes or crowded lanceolate spikes (Fig. 240) ; odor and taste aro- 
matic, characteristic, the taste not being followed by a cooling 
sensation. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil, about 0.3 per cent in the fresh leaves; 
resin, and tannin. American oil of spearmint consists of about 56 
per cent of carvone, a considerable amount of 1-limonene and possibly 
also 1-pinene. The constituent giving the oil its characteristic odor 
is not known. 

Allied Plants. — Russian spearmint oil is obtained from an unde- 
termined plant and consists of 1-linalool, 50 to 60 per cent; 20 per 
cent of cineol, 5 to 10 per cent of 1-carvone and possibly also 1-limonene. 

German Spearmint oil is obtained from Mentha crispa, which 
is regarded as a cultural variety of M. arvensis. The plant is spar- 
ingly naturalized in the United States from Europe. It somewhat 
resembles M. piperita, but is distinguished by its cuspid, irregularly 
dentate leaves. It yields an oil containing carvone. 

Hedeoma. — American Pennyroyal. — The leaves and flowering 
tops of Hedeoma pulegiodes (Fam. Labiatse), an annual herb indigen- 
ous to the eastern and central United States and Canada. Penny- 
royal should be collected in July or August and dried. 

Description. — Stem quadrangular, 1 to 2 mm. in diameter, light 
or reddish-brown, with numerous spreading hairs. Leaves elliptical 
or ovate, opposite, 15 to 35 mm. in length, 5 to 14 mm. in breadth; 
summit obtuse; base tapering into the petiole; margin remotely 
serrate; upper surface dark green, pubescent on the nerves, slightly 
glandular-hairy; under surface light green, pubescent, glandular- 
hairy, veins of the first order diverging at an angle of 45° to 65°, 
curving upwards and uniting near the margin ; petiole 3 to 6 mm. in 
length, with numerous spreading hairs and slightly laminate in the 
upper portion. Inflorescence in six-flowered axillary whorls; calyx 



572 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

tubular, about 5 mm. in length, ovoid or slightly curved on the lower 
side near the base, bilabiate, upper lip 3-toothed, lower lip with two 
linear-lanceolate divisions, 13-nerved, longitudinally striate, pubes- 
cent ; corolla about the size of the calyx, purplish, pubescent, upper 
lip erect, flat, emarginate, the lower spreading and 3-lobed; fertile 
stamens two, exserted, ascending, the sterile upper pair rarely with 
anthers. Nutlets nearly spheroidal or ovoid, about 0.5 mm. in 
diameter; odor strongly aromatic; taste aromatic. 

Inner Structure. — The leaves have a bi-facial structure; the 
epidermal cells are undulate, except over the veins where the walls 
are nearly straight; the non-glandular hairs are uniseriate, curved 
and pointed, consisting of from 1 to 3 cells, having a striated cuticle; 
the glandular hairs are of 2 types having short stalks and either a 
2- or 8-celled glandular head.- The stomata are broadly elliptical 
having a pair of subsidiary cells transverse to the pores, the cells of 
the stomata frequently contain large sphero-crystals. In the young 
internodes of the stems the outline of the stele is circular in transverse 
sections, in contrast with the quadrangular outline of the cortex, 
while in the older stem portions the stele becomes gradually 
quadrangular by the continued divisions of the interfasicular 
cambium. There is no ring of sclerenchyma in the pericycle and the 
endodermis consists of large, thin-walled cells which are free from 
starch. 

Powder. — Dark green; non-glandular hairs slightly curved, 2- 
to 3-celled, thick walled, with numerous slight centrifugal projections; 
glandular hairs with 1-celled stalk and 2- to 8-celled glandular head; 
pollen grains somewhat spheroidal, about 0.035 mm. in diameter, 
nearly smooth; tracheae spiral or with simple and bordered pores; 
sclerenchymatous fibers long, thin-walled, lignified, with numerous 
simple pores; epidermal cells having sphero-crystals or irregular 
masses of a carbohydrate. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil, a bitter principle and tannin. The 
dried leaves yield about 3 per cent of volatile oil, while the dried 
stems and leaves yield only 1.3 per cent. The volatile oil is official 
and consists chiefly of a ketone pulegone, which gives the oil its 
peculiar properties. The oil also probably contains two other 
ketones: (a) hedeomol and (b) another resembling menthone. Sev- 
eral acids have also been found in this oil: formic, acetic and iso- 
heptylic. 

Allied Plants. — Mentha Pulegium, or European Pennyroyal, 
apparently contains principles similar to the American pennyroyal, 
and is distinguished from the latter by the more or less oval, serrate 



SAGE 573 

leaves, the cymose inflorescence and the four-lobed corolla. The 
oil of European pennyroyal closely resembles that of Hedeoma and is 
frequently substituted for it. 

Wild Mint (Mentha canadensis), a perennial herb common in 
wet places in the United States, has ovate-oblong or lanceolate leaves, 
in the axils of which whorls or globular clusters of flowers arise. 
The plant has an odor of pennyroyal and yields 1.25 per cent of a 
volatile oil from which pulegone and thymol or carvacrol have been 
isolated. 

Water Mint (Mentha aquatica), a plant found in wet places 
from New England to Delaware, yields about 0.34 per cent of a vola- 
tile oil having the odor of pennyroyal. 

Oil of Russian pennyroyal contains pulegone, but the botanical 
origin is not known. 

Literature. — Holm, Merck's Report, 1908, p. 115. 

Salvia. — Sage. — The leaves of Salvia officinalis (Fam, Labiatse), 
a perennial herb indigenous to southern Europe, and cultivated in 
England, France, Germany and the United States, both for use as a 
drug and as a pot herb. The leaves are collected when the plants 
are in flower, and carefully dried in the shade. 

Description. — Oblong-lanceolate or ovate, 2 to 10 cm. in length, 
1 to 2.5 cm. in breadth; summit acute; base rounded or somewhat 
heart-shaped, frequently lobed; margin crenulate; upper surface 
grayish-green, densely pubescent when the leaves are young, the 
older leaves being nearly smooth, midrib and veins depressed; under 
surface light grayish-green, midrib prominent, veins of first order 
diverging at an angle of 55° and running nearly parallel to the margin, 
minutely reticulate and densely pubescent; petiole 1 to 4 cm. in 
length, upper side grooved, grayish-purple; texture velvety, more or 
less pliable ; odor aromatic ; taste aromatic and bitter. 

Inner Structure. — Non-glandular hairs, numerous, uniseriate, 
consisting of 2 to 5 cells, the lower being thick-walled and containing 
air. Glandular hairs of 3 types: (a) one having a 2- to 4-celled stalk, 
and a small 1-celled head; (b) another having a 1-celled stalk and a 
2-celled head; (c) a third without a stalk and having an 8-celled 
glandular head, containing a brownish secretion. Cells of upper 
epidermis polygonal in surface view and thick-walled. Cells of lower 
epidermis having in surface view undulate and thin walls. 

Powder. — Dark green; consisting of numerous characteristic 
non-glandular hairs, also reddish glandular hairs as described above. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil 0.5 to 2.5 per cent, containing pinene, 
cineol, thujon and borneol; a bitter principle somewhat resembling 



574 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

marrubiin; resin; and tannin, or a principle closely resembling it 
in its astringency and behavior with ferric salts. 

Standard of Purity. — Sage is the dried leaf of Salvia officinalis L. 
It contains not less than 1 per cent of volatile ether extract, not more 
than 25 per cent of crude fiber, not more than 10 per cent of total ash, 
nor more than 1 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. 
(U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Allied Plants. — The oil from Muscatel Sage (Salvia Sclarea) has 
an odor of lavender and apparently contains linalyl acetate. 

Adulterants. — Greek Sage (Saliva triloba). Leaves are smaller, 
thicker, with short petioles and the surface is more woolly. Spanish 
Sage, the leaves of Saliva lavandaeulfolial, are considerably smaller 
than the official article, possess relatively long petioles and entire 
margins. (U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Thymus. — Herba Thymi, Common or Garden Thyme. — The 
leaves and flowering tops of Thymus vulgaris (Fam. Labiatse), a 
small evergreen shrub indigenous to Spain and Italy and extensively 
cultivated both in Europe and the United States. The leafy and 
flowering tops are gathered in May or June and carefully dried. The 
commercial supplies are obtained from Germany and New York 
State, where it is cultivated to a great extent. 

Descrpition. — Stems slender, quadrangular, pubescent, more or 
less curved, about 15 cm. in length and 1 mm. in thickness, exter- 
nally light grayish-brown, pubescent, the older woody portions 
purplish-brown, pith hollow. Leaves lanceolate or ovate oblong, 
about 10 mm. in length and 3 to 5 mm. in breadth; summit acute, 
base tapering into a short petiole, margin entire and re volute, both 
surfaces grayish-green and glandular hairy, the veins of the midrib 
and first and second order prominent, those of first order diverging 
at an angle of about 65° and ending free near the margin. Flowers, 
in axillary clusters or in terminal glomerules; calyx 13-nerved, bi- 
labiate, the lower 2-cleft, the lobes having awl-shaped, linear divisions; 
corolla bi-labiate and about 3 mm. in breadth; stamens 4, straight 
and exserted; ovary 4-parted and having a 2-cleft style; nutlets 
ovoid, about 0.5 mm. in diameter, smooth. 

Inner Structure. — Non-glandular hairs of 3 kinds: (a), unicellular, 
sharp pointed, about 0.060 in length and having thick, papillose walls; 
(b), uniseriate, sharp pointed, consisting of 2 to 3 cells, from 0.200 to 
0.300 mm. in length and having thick papillose walls; (c), uniseriate, 
consisting of 2 or 3 cells, the terminal one being somewhat curved or 
hooked. Glandular hairs of 2 kinds: (a), consisting of a short stalk, 
embedded in the epidermal layer and a unicellular head or secreting 



THYME 575 

cell; (6), without a stalk and having an 8- to 12-celled secreting head, 
the latter being yellowish-brown in color and about 0.015 nun. in 
diameter, giving the leaves a glandular punctate appearance. Calyx 
having 6- to 8-celled uniseriate hairs, which are long pointed, from 
6.300 to 0.400 in length, the walls being thin and the lumina of the 
lower cells filled with air. In the stem the endodermis is distinct; 
the pericycle is made up of a narrow ring of sclerenchymatous fibers; 
and the medullary rays of the xylem are 1 cell in width. 

Constituents. — A yellowish-red volatile oil, from 1 to 2.6 per cent, 
consisting of thymol, cymene, thymene and a small quantity of 
1-pinene. Spanish oil of thyme is often of a dark green color and con- 
tains from 50 to 70 per cent of carvacrol, but no thymol. Thyme 
also contains tannic acid. 

Standard of Purity. — Thyme is the dried leaves and flowering 
tops of Thymus vulgaris L. It contains not more than 14 per cent of 
total ash, nor more than 4 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric 
acid. (U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Allied Plant. — Thymol may be obtained from horsemint (Mon- 
arda didyma). See bulletin 372, U. S. Dept. Agric. 

Adulterants. — The leaves and tops of Cretan Dittany, Origa- 
num Dictamnus, a native of the Isle of Crete in the eastern Med- 
iterranean Sea, are sometimes sold as thyme. The stems are nearly 
cylindrical, reddish-brown, from 0.5 to 2 mm. in diameter. The 
leaves are broadly elliptical, light greenish-gray and densely tomen- 
tose. The bracts are purplish-brown and the corolla dark purple. 
The plant yields a volatile oil containing about 85 per cent of pule- 
gone. 

The leaves and tops of Origanum creticum, known as Spanish 
hops, is also sold for thyme. The plant is indigenous to southern 
Europe and consists of numerous cylindrical or somewhat quad- 
rangular stems of a yellowish or light brown color; a number of 
elliptical or ovate, short petiolate leaves, about 10 mm. in length, 
being grayish-green, glandular hairy and with 5 palmate veins; and 
numerous ovoid or cylindrical spikes having grayish-green imbri- 
cated bracts and enclosing in fruit the ovoid nutlets; the latter 
being elliptical, yellowish-brown, about 1 mm. in length and having 
the epidermal cells modified to papillae. The plant yields from 2 to 3 
per cent of a volatile oil containing from 60 to 85 per cent of carvacrol. 
The oil, from different sources, varies in color and in the carvacrol 
content. Ocymum viride, native of west Africa, yields 0.45 per cent 
of volatile oil which contains 52 per cent of thymol. Bot. Abstracts, 
1918, 1, p. 114. 



576 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Literature. — Guerin, Rept. Pharm., 1919, 30, p. 49. 

Marjoram. — Herba Majorana, Sweet or Garden Marjoram. 
— The leaves and flowering tops of Origanum Majorana (Majorana 
hortensis), Fam. Labiatse, an annual herb indigenous to southern 
Europe, northern Africa and western Asia and extensively cultivated 
as a pot or seasoning herb. 

Description. — Leaves ovate or broadly elliptical, petiolate; from 
1 to 4 cm. in length and 0.6 to 20 mm. in width; summit acute or 
obtuse; base acute, unequal; margin entire or somewhat repand 
toothed; both surfaces grayish-green, soft-downy, and glandular 
hairy. Flowers purplish-red, in cylindrical or ellipsoidal spikes, 
having imbricated bracts of the same color as the flowers. Stems 
purplish-red, obscurely or distinctly quadrangular, purplish-brown, 
finely longitudinally striated and hairy; odor distinct; taste aromatic 
and somewhat pungent. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 241.) Non-glandular hairs, uniseriate, 
composed of 2 to 7 cells, the lower being broad, the upper narrow 
and frequently curved, the walls being thick, strongly papillose. 
Glandular hairs of 2 kinds: (a), having a 2- to 4-celled stalk and a 
1- to 2-celled head; (6), with a 1-celled stalk and an 8- to 12-celled 
glandular head, the latter containing a light yellowish oily content 
and being about 0.015 mm. in diameter. Epidermal cells of the 
upper surface somewhat polygonal, having unequal porous 
walls. Epidermal cells of lower surface having undulate walls 
with unequal porous thickenings, and broadly elliptical stomata, 
the latter having the two subsidiary cells transverse to the 
pore. 

Standard of Purity. — Marjoram is the dried leaves, with or with- 
out a small proportion of the flowering tops of the Majorana hor- 
tensis Moensch. (U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Adulterations. — The leaves of Tanner's sumac, Coriaria myrti- 
folia (Fam. Coriariacese) have been substituted. These are readily 
distinguished (see Fig. 241). 

Constituents. — From 0.7 to 0.9 per cent of a greenish or yellowish- 
green volatile oil, consisting of about 85 per cent of a mixture of 
borneol and camphor. Marjoram also contains a tannin, which is 
colored green with ferric salts; and ash from 12 to 19 per cent, of 
which from 2 to 2.5 per cent consists of sand. 

Literature. — Nestler, Arch. Chem. Mikros., 1913, Heft 1 and 2; 
Hanausek and Winton, Microscopy of Technical Products, 1907, 
p. 300; Kraemer, Pacific Pharm., 1917, 11, p. 13; Beringer, Amer. 
Jour. Pharm., 1918, 90, p. 555; Collin, Ibid., p. 823. 



LAVENDER 



577 



Lavandula. — Lavender Flowers. — The carefully dried flowers of 
Lavandula vera D.C. (L. officinalis chaix), Fam. Labiatse, a small 
shrub, native of southern Europe and cultivated in Europe as far 
north as Norway and also in the United States. The leaves and 
flowers of lavender were used by the ancients to perfume their 




Fig. 241. — A, Coriaria. I, entire leaves; e, surface view of the lower epidermis 
showing two of the stomata with two neighboring cells which are situated 
parallel to the pore of the stoma; t, several of the trachea. The epidermal 
cells showing a striated cuticle similar to the neighboring cells. B, Marjoram 
leaves, I, entire leaves; e, surface view of the lower epidermis showing three 
stomata, the neighboring cells (n) being at right angles to the pores of the 
stomata; h, uniseriate non-glandular hairs; g, typical 8-celled glandular hairs. 



baths. The flowers are still extensively used for the perfuming of 
linen. The commercial supplies of lavender flowers come from 
southern Europe and are exported to the Barbary states, Turkey and 
America. The lavender plant is also essentially cultivated for its 
volatile oil. 



578 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Description. — Florets, bi-labiate from 5 to 8 mm. in length, having 
a short stalk or being nearly sessile; calyx, tubular about 4 mm. in 
length, obscurely 5-toothed,' prominently nerved and dark blue in 
color, the lower portion being somewhat grayish and hairy, the 
corolla about 4 mm. in length, dark blue or bluish-brown, tubular, 
limb being two-lipped; stamens 4 inserted; tube of corolla with 
characteristic corkscrew-like hairs which are glandular; odor, strongly 
aromatic and distinct; taste, aromatic, slightly pungent and some- 
what bitter. 

Constituents. — A pale yellow or yellowish-green, very fragrant 
volatile oil from 0.8 to 2.8 per cent, the principal constituent of which 
is 1-linalyl acetate, which occurs to the extent of 30 to 45 per cent in 
the French oil. It also contains an ester of butyric acid and possibly 
also esters of butyric and valerianic acid. According to the amount 
of linayl acetate the French lavender oils are divided into two classes : 
(a) Those with more than 36 per cent of ester, possessing the finest 
and most intense aroma, being produced in the southern French Alps. 
(6) Those having from 30 to 36 per cent of ester. The English oils 
contain from 7 to 11 per cent of linalyl acetate and are also known 
for their fragrancy having a cineol-like odor. 

Adulterants. — Oil of lavender is adulterated with turpentine oil, 
cedarwood oil and spike oil. The latter is obtained from Lavandula 
spica DC. A plant which grows in the same sections with lavender 
in the Mediterranean countries. Spike oil has a camphor-like odor 
reminding one of a mixture of lavender and rosemary. Spike oil 
contains a camphor which is not present in genuine lavender oil. 
It also contains borneol, cineol, linalool, and probably terpineol. 

Collinsonia. — Rhizoma Collinsonle, Stoneroot, Knotroot 
or Horse-balm Root. — The rhizome and roots of Collinsonia cana- 
dense (Fam. Labiatse), a perennial herb, growing in moist woods 
throughout the central and eastern United States. The rhizomes 
with adhering roots are gathered in the fall and employed in either 
the fresh or dried condition. 

Description. — Rhizome horizontal, irregularly branched, the 
termination of the branches rounded and knotty; from 3 to 15 cm. 
in length, and 1 to 2 cm. in thickness; externally light or dark yellow- 
ish-brown, roughened from the sharp ridges of bud scales, short 
conical buds and root bases, upper surface having very shallow stem- 
scars; very hard, tough; inner surface light yellowish having a thin 
bark, a narrow layer of wood, and a very large pith; odor slight; 
taste slightly pungent. Roots filiform, dark brown, more or less 
curved and branching at the ends. 



STONEROOT 579 

Inner Structure. — An outer strata of lamellar cork, i.e., com- 
posed of layers of different width alternating with each other, the 
walls being yellowish brown ; cortex composed of a few rows of more 
or less tabular or rectangular cells containing starch; stele cylindri- 
cal consisting of small collateral fibrovascular bundles, separated by 
very broad strands of radially elongated, starch-bearing parenchyma, 
the walls being strongly lignified ; pith large, composed of polyhedral 
parenchyma cells, having moderately thick and strongly lignified 
walls. Starch grains numerous, mostly single, occasionally 2-com- 
pound, the individual grains from 0.002 to 0.025 mm. in length and 
varying greatly in shape from narrow cylindrical, more or less ellip- 
soidal, to pear-shaped, fusiform and reniform grains. The hardness 
of the root is due to the large amount of lignified tissue. 

Constituents.— A saponin-like glucoside; a resin soluble in ether, 
partly soluble in alcohol; also organic acids; tannic acid; mucilage 
and wax. 

Adulteration. — A rhizome of unknown origin is occasionally seen 
on the market, which is horizontal, slightly branched, from 2 to 4 cm. 
in length and 1 cm. in thickness; externally purplish-brown, distinctly 
annulate and deeply wrinkled, having on the upper surface a number 
of short stem-branches or large circular concave stem-scars; lower 
and side portions with numerous circular reddish root scars and short 
roots; internally brownish-red having a thin cortex, a narrow, dis- 
tinctly radiate wood, and a large depressed pith; inodorous and 
slightly pungent. 

The inner structure shows an outer epidermal layer; a hypodermal 
layer of narrow tangentially elongated cells, having a light reddish- 
brown amorphous content; a rather thin cortex composed of starch- 
bearing parenchyma, having also a reddish-brown content, and cells 
containing rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate; the xylem con- 
sists of narrow wedges of tracheae and wood fibers, separated by very 
broad rays of parenchyma cells containing the same contents as the 
cortical parenchyma ; pith composed of parenchyma, resembling that 
of the cortex; calcium oxalate crystals, numerous, in rosette aggre- 
gates, from 0.010 to 0.025 mm. in diameter; starch grains single, 
from 0.005 to 0.020 mm. in diameter, mostly narrow-ellipsoidal or 
spindle-shaped, varying from spheroidal to fusiform and often very 
irregular. 

Literature. — Holm, Merck's Report, 1909, p. 87; Lochman, Amer. 
Jour. Pharm., 1885, p. 228. 



580 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



SOLANACEJE, OR NIGHTSHADE FAMILY 

The plants are of varied form, most abundant in tropical regions 
and the family comprises about 1500 species. The leaves are usually 
alternate; the flowers are mostly regular, excepting in Hyoscyamus; 
the anthers are connivent, the pollen sacs being apically or longi- 
tudinally dehiscent; and the fruits are inferior berries or capsules. 




Fig. 242. — Leaves and fruits of solanaceous drugs: A, D, Belladonna, the inferior 
berry, cut transversely, showing numerous seeds; B, F, Stramonium, the 
fruit being a spinose capsule; C, E, Hyoscyamus, the fruit being a Pyxis, 
surmounted by the large calyx lobes. 

The plants are usually malodorous and furnish a number ol impor- 
tant economic products, including potato (Solanum tuberosum), 
tomata (S. Ly copersicum) , egg-plant (S. Melongena), tobacco 
(Nicotiana Tabacum), as well as a number of drugs to which special 
attention will be given. 



BELLADONNA 581 

The plants do not possess any special internal secretory tissues. 
Furthermore, bast fibers are not usually found in the secondary 
cortex, except possibly in Atropa Belladonna. The tracheae have 
simple pores, occasionally bordered pores as in the roots of Atropa 
Belladonna. The wood fibers usually possess thin walls having 
simple pores, or thick walls marked by bordered pores. The medul- 
lary rays of the xylem are generally narrow and wood parenchyma is 
scantily developed. In Atropa, Datura, Solanum and Scopolia an 
intraxylary leptome is frequently developed and in which scleren- 
chymatous fibers may occur. The walls of the pith cells are usually 
not lignified, except in Duboisia and some other genera. Calcium 
oxalate is secreted in the form of solitary crystals, rosette aggregates 
or sphenoidal microcrystals. The stomata are usually surrounded 
by ordinary epidermal cells. Both glandular and non-glandular 
hairs occur in a great variety of forms. 

Belladonna Folia. — Belladonna Leaves. — The leaves and 
flowering tops of Atropa Belladonna (Fam. Solanacese), a perennial 
herb (Figs. 243 and 244), native of central and southern Europe, 
Asia Minor and Persia, and cultivated in England and Germany, 
from which countries most of the commercial supply is obtained. 
The leaves and tops are gathered when the plants are in flower, and 
used fresh or after being dried. Sievers has shown that a drug of 
good quality may contain as high as 20 per cent of stems, the latter 
being from 7 to 8 mm. in diameter when green. (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 
1918, 90, p. 838.) 

Description. — Usually in irregular, matted fragments. Stem 
hollow, cylindrical, flattened, longitudinally furrowed and wrinkled, 
1.5 to 7 mm. in diameter, internodes from 2.5 to 6.5 cm. in length. 
Leaves (Fig. 242) single or in unequal pairs, broadly ovate or some- 
what elliptical, 6 to 15 cm. in length, 2.5 to 7 cm. in breadth; summit 
acuminate; base acute, somewhat unequal and. tapering into the 
petiole; margin entire; upper surface dark green, glabrous, epidermis 
with distinct papillae; under surface grayish-green, slightly pubescent 
on the veins, epidermis distinctly sinuate, midrib dark brown, the 
veins of the first order diverging from it at angles of about 45° and 
running nearly parallel to near the margin ; petiole dark brown, 5 to 
15 mm. in length and semicircular in cross-section; texture fragile. 
Flowers solitary, pedicel 1.5 to 2 cm. in length; calyx deeply 5-cleft, 
about 1 cm. in length, outer surface slightly pubescent; corolla 5- 
parted, about 2 cm. in length, campanulate, yellowish purple; sta- 
mens five, included; style somewhat exserted. Fruit, a superior 
berry, globular, dark green, 7 to 10 mm. in diameter, 2-locular, many 



582 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



seeded. Seeds campylotropous, somewhat reniform, flattened, light 
brown; testa finely pitted, with a curved embryo embedded in the 
endosperm; odor distinct, heavy ; taste somewhat disagreeable. 




Fig. 243. — Plants from 300 large belladonna seeds seven weeks after sowing, 
showing the unequal development of seedlings. — After Sievers, Amer. Jour. 
Pharm., 1914, p. 494. 



Inner Structure. — (Fig. 245.) Leaves bifacial; both the lower 
and upper epidermis consist of cells, having thin undulate walls, 
stomata and hairs, these latter being more abundant on the dorsal 
surface; a layer of short palisade cells;' a crystal layer composed of 
parenchyma, the nearly isodiametric cells being filled with sphenoidal 
microcrystals ; several layers of loose mesophyll, among which are 



BELLADONNA 



583 



included the bicollateral fibre-vascular bundles occurring in the veins; 
non-glandular hairs, uniseriate, consisting of from 2 to 5 cells ; gland- 
ular hairs of 2 types: (a), having a 2- to 3-celled stalk and a 1-celled- 
secreting head; (6), having a 1-celled stalk and 4- to 10-celled secret- 
ing head. It has been variously stated that calcium oxalate also 




Fig. 244. — Atropa Belladonna; first year's plant, grown at The H. K. Mulford 
Co. Drug Farm, Glenolden, Pa. — After Borneman, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 
1912, p. 550. 



occurs in the leaves in the form of rosette aggregates and acicular 
crystals. If true these forms are of very seldom occurrence. 

In the stem there occurs an outer epidermal layer having a thin 
cuticle; a primary cortex of parenchyma, the cells being separated 
by large intercellular spaces; an endodermis, beneath which in the 



584 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



pericycle occurs an interrupted circle of bast fibers occurring either 
single or in small groups, the walls of which are relatively thin and 
slightly lignified (Fig. 245); a few layers of leptome; xylem con- 
sisting of a few tracheae associated with numerous wood fibers (Fig. 
245) ; an internal phloem having small isolated groups of bast fibers 




Fig. 245. — Belladonna: A, surface view of cells of the epidermis, showing also a 
stoma. B, surface view of cells of the lower epidermis and 3 stomata. 
C, a non-glandular hair. D, several types of glandular hairs. E, numerous 
crystals of calcium oxalate in the form of sphenoidal microcrystals and small 
prisms. F, fragment of xylem showing the wood fibers having simple pores, 
and several tracheae with bordered pores and reticulate perforations. G, 
transverse section of a portion of the stem showing thick-walled bast fibers. 



similar to those found in the inner bark ; pith of large irregular paren- 
chyma cells. 

Powder. — (Fig. 245.) Dark green; especially characteristic of 
the powder, cleared with solutions of potassium hydroxide or chloral 



BELLADONNA 



585 




Fig. 246. — Belladonna root: A, transverse section of older root in which the 
xylem or woody portion is fully developed, showing cork cells (K); starch- 
bearing parenchyma (P); microcrystals of calcium oxalate (Ca); wood 
fibers (W); tracheae (T 7 ); medullary rays (M). B, transverse section of a 
lateral root in which the xylem portion is not so fully developed, letters same 
as in A. — After Collin. 



586 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 247. — Transverse section of a somewhat woody root of belladonna near the 
cambium: C, parenchyma of the cortex, some of the cells showing sphenoidal 
microcrystals of calcium oxalate \Ca); S, leptome; C, cambium; M, medul- 
lary rays; IFF, wood fibers; 7 1 , tracheae; P, parenchmya of pith, some of the 
cells having microcrystals of calcium oxalate. 



BELLADONNA 



587 



hydrate, is the crystal layer, in which the cells filled with microcrys- 
tals are grayish-black and somewhat larger than the surrounding 
cells; non-glandular hairs few, uniseriate, 2- to 5-celled; glandular 
hairs few, of two kinds, stalks 1- to 3-celled, glandular heads 1- to 
many-celled; tracheae with annular, spiral, scalariform or reticulate 
thickenings and with bordered pores; starch grains and pollen grains 
few; occasional fragments of the stems having slightly lignified bast 
fibers. 

Constituents. — Several alkaloids amounting to from 0.3 to 0.7 
per cent, of which hyoscyamine (see Hyoscyamus) exists in largest 




Fig. 248. — Belladonna root: Transverse section of a parenchyma cell filled with 
sphenoidal micro crystals of calcium oxalate, the surrounding cells, which 
are shown in part, contain starch grains. 



proportion. The drug also contains hyoscine (scopolamine), atro- 
pine, formed from hyoscyamine, and belladonnine, formed from 
atropine; a fluorescent principle j3-methyl-8esculetin (atrosin or 
chrysatropic acid), which resembles a similar principle found in 
gelsemium; malic acid and calcium oxalate in the form of sphenoidal 
microcrystals (Fig. 248). 

Atropine (Fig. 251) is a powerful mydriatic alkaloid which occurs 
in colorless or white acicular crystals that are soluble in alcohol but 
sparingly soluble in water. It is optically inactive and may be 
sublimed without decomposition. The aqueous solutions are, how- 



588 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



ever, easily decomposed, acquiring a yellow color and a disagreeable 
odor. On treating atropine with nitric acid and potassium hydrate 
a violet color is produced. On hydrolysis atropine yields tropin and 
tropic acid. Upon heating atropine with nitric acid so as to cause 
the loss of a molecule of water the alkaloid apoatropine (atrogamine 
or anhydro-atropine) is formed, which has been isolated from bella- 
donna root and which does not possess any mydriatic properties. 




Fig. 249. — Belladonna root: S, parenchyma cells containing starch; CA, cells 
containing sphenoidal micro crystals of calcium oxalate; K, cork; T, frag- 
ments of tracheae having annular markings or simple pores; P, parenchyma; 
F, wood fibers with narrow oblique pores. 



On heating apoatropine with hydrochloric acid or upon simply heat- 
ing it for some time alone the base belladonnine (oxyatropine) is 
formed. 1 

The amount of alkaloids varies in different parts of the plant and 
has been given as follows: Roots, 0.4 per cent; stems, 0.04 per cent; 

Charles O. Lee. Micro-chemistry of the Alkaloids of Datura. Jour. A. 
Ph. A., 1918, 7, p. 504. 



BELLADONNA 



589 



leaves, 0.35 per cent; unripe berries, 0.19 per cent; ripe berries, 0.21 
per cent; and seeds, 0.33 per cent. 

Adulterants. — The leaves of Scopolia carniolica (Fig. 252) and 
Phytolacca decandra (Fig. 85) have been recently reported as sub- 




Fig. 250. — Different kinds of tracheae. A, transverse section of stem of grape- 
vine (Vitis vinifera) showing three tracheae from the older wood containing 
tyloses; w, wood fibers; m, medullary rays. The tyloses, or thy lien, are in 
the nature of ingrowths from the wood fibers and protrude through the 
adjoining pores, at the end of the season's growth, closing the cavities of the 
tracheae. B, longitudinal section of belladonna root showing a large trachea 
with bordered pores (0, a trachea with simple pores (s), wood fiber with 
oblique pores (w) and parenchyma (p) containing starch. C, longitudinal 
section of Phytolacca root showing a trachea with bordered pores (t), trachea 
with reticulate thickening (r), wood fibers (w) and parenchyma (p) contain- 
ing starch. D, longitudinal section of scopola rhizome showing the char- 
acteristic wide, reticulate tracheae and portion of cells of parenchyma con- 
taining starch. 



stitutes. The leaves of Solanum nigrum have been substituted for 
true Belladonna. 



590 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Literature. — Miller, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1913, p. 291; Carr, 
Ibid., 1913, p. 487; Sievers, Ibid., 1914, pp. 97 and 483; Newcomb, 
Ibid., 1914, p. 531, and 1915, p. 1; Sievers, Ibid., 1916, 88, p. 193. 

Belladonna Radix. — Belladonna Root. — The root of Atropa 
Belladonna (Fam. Solanacese), a perennial herb (Figs. 243 and 244), 
native of central and southern Europe, and cultivated in England 
and Germany, from which countries most of the commercial supply- 
is obtained. The roots are collected in autumn from plants one to 
four years old and carefully dried. 

Description. — Cylindrical, slightly tapering, somewhat twisted 
or split into longitudinal pieces, 5 to 15 cm. in length, 4 to 25 mm. 




Fig. 251. — Atropine: Long orthorhombic prismatic crystals from an alcoholic 

solution. 

in diameter; externally light brown, smooth, longitudinally wrinkled 
or fissured, sometimes with transverse ridges and with rootlet-scars 
or fragments of rootlets; fracture short, mealy when dry and emitting 
a dust consisting of starch grains and fragments of cells, tough when 
damp; internally light yellow, slightly radiate, bark 0.5 to 2 mm. in 
thickness, not fibrous and adhering closely to the wood, cambium 
zone distinct; odor narcotic; taste sweetish, acrid. 

Roots that are shrunken, spongy, dark brown and free from 
starch should be rejected, as also old woody roots and stem-remnants. 

Phytolacca roots (Figs. 85 and 250) and Althaea (Fig. 187) are 



BELLADONNA 591 

distinguished from belladonna root by having numerous scleren- 
chymatous fibers, while inula has neither starch nor spheroidal 
microcrystals of calcium oxalate. 

Inner Structure.— See Figs. 246, 247, 248 and 250. 

Powder. — (Fig. 249.) Light brown; odor distinct, heavy, espe- 
cially marked on heating with water; in addition to the starch 
grains -the most marked characteristic feature is the cells containing 
the microcrystals which, on clearing the fragments with solutions 
of potassium hydrate or chloral hydrate, appear in contrast to the 
surrounding cells in the form of grayish-black cells of various forms; 
in the broken parenchymatous cells the forms of the crystals are 
readily distinguished, and are from 0.03 to 0.10 mm. in length; 
starch grains numerous, from 0.003 to 0.030 mm. in diameter, spheroi- 
dal, plano-convex, polyhedral, and 2- to 6- or more compound ; frag- 
ments of cork cells and tracheae with wood fibers few. Occasional 
fragments of stems showing long thin-walled and slightly lignified 
bast fibers (Fig. 245). 

Constituents. — There are two principal alkaloids — hyoscyamine 
and atropine — which together amount from 0.2 to 1 per cent, the 
proportions of these varying according to the age of the root, the 
hyoscyamine, however, usually being in excess. The atropine 
(Fig. 251) appears to be derived from its isomer hyoscyamine and 
not to preexist in the root; a small amount of scopolamine (hyoscine) 
is also present. Other alkaloids, as bellaclonnine, apoatropine, etc., 
have been isolated, but these are decomposition products of hyo- 
cyamine. The drug also contains a fluorescent principle, B-methyl 
sesculetin, considerable starch and calcium oxalate in the form of 
sphenoidal microcrystals. See also Hyoscyamus, Belladonnas Folia 
and Stramonium. 

Adulterants. — Belladonna root is sometimes admixed with poke 
root, this admixture is readily detected by the presence of raphides 
of calcium oxalate (Fig. 85) and the markings of the tracheae (Fig. 
250). Scopola rhizome is also sometimes added or entirely sub- 
stituted for belladonna root. For its determination, see Scopola, 
p. 592. 

Allied Plants. — Mandragora or European mandrake is the root 
of Atropa Mandragora. The drug occurs in fusiform, somewhat 
bifurcated pieces and contains two mydriatic alkaloids: mandra- 
gorine (isomeric with atropine) and an alkaloid resembling hyos- 
cyamine. Around this drug cluster many curious traditions. It 
was regarded with great veneration by the ancients, who recognized 
its narcotic properties. 



592 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Literature. — Kraemer, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1908, p. 459. 

Scopola. — Belladonna Scopolia. — The dried rhizome of Sco- 
polia carniolica (Fam. Solanaceae), a perennial herb growing in the 
region of the eastern Alps, Carpathian Mountains and neighboring 




Fig. 252. — Scopolia carniolica: A, leaf. B, a fruit showing long stalk and 
slightly lobed calyx. C, portion of calyx showing broadly acute lobes. 
D, E, transverse sections of leaf showing upper epidermis (e), palisade 
cells (p), loose parenchyma (m), collenchyma (c), lower epidermis (Z), fibro- 
vascular bundle with a single trachea (u), stoma (s). F, epidermal cells of 
lower surface showing foldings due to irregularity of the outer walls. G, 
epidermal cells and stoma from lower surface. H, glandular hairs (which 
are only occasionally present). /, fragment of leaf showing spiral tracheae 
(/) cells containing sphenoidal microcrystals of calcium oxalate (c). K, 
isolated crystals of calcium oxalate, which sometimes occur in aggregates 
from 0.025 to 0.040 mm. in diameter. L, fragment of stem showing tracheae 
with reticulate thickening (r), simple pores (7;) and spiral thickening (s). 



regions, 
related. 



Atropa Belladonna and Scopolia carniolica are closely 
The former belongs to the Solanese-Lyciinae, or group of 



SCOPOLA 



593 



plants characterized by tubular corollas and berry-like fruits (Fig. 
242) and the latter to the Solaneae-Hyoscyaminae, or plants with 
funnel-shaped corolla and transversely dehiscent capsular fruits 
(Fig. 252). To this latter sub-group also belongs the genus Hyos- 
cyamus and botanically Scopolia appears to be more closely allied 
to Hyoscyamus than to Belladonna. 




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o o 

Q O 
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Fig. 253. — Scopola (Scopolia carniolica): A, rhizome showing prominent stem 
scars. B, longitudinal section showing reticulate tracheae, parenchyma cells 
containing starch and sphenoidal microcrystals of calcium oxalate. C, 
individual crystals which separate from sections or in the powder, the single 
crystals being from 0.005 to 0.010 mm. in diameter and the aggregates being 
about 0.015 mm. in diameter. D, isolated starch grains, which are from 
0.005 to 0.020 mm. in diameter. E, field showing starch grains and crystals 
of calcium oxalate under polarized light. 



Description. — Rhizome horizontal (Fig. 253), nearly cylindrical, 
somewhat tortuous, usually cut longitudinally into pieces 5 to 12 
cm. in length, 7 to 15 mm. in diameter; externally grayish-brown, 
longitudinally furrowed, slightly annulate, with numerous circular 



594 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



stem-scars about 5 mm. in diameter, under portion with root-scars 
and root-remnants; fracture short, mealy; internally whitish or light 
grayish-brown, bark 1 mm. or less in thickness, wood slightly radiate, 
pith rather large, horny; odor slight; taste starchy, sweetish, acrid. 

The roots, which are attached to the rhizome or in separate pieces, 
are cylindrical, tapering, varying in diameter from 2 to 10 mm., 
longitudinally wrinkled, and marked by lenticular, whitish areas, 
resembling lenticels. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 253. 




Fig. 254. — Scopolamine hydrobromide : Crystal aggregates from an alcoholic 

solution. 



Constituents. — About 0.6 per cent of total alkaloids, including 
atropine, hyoscyamine and scopolamine (hyoscine). Scopolamine 
is official as a hydrobromide (Fig. 254) , and exists in the drug to the 
extent of 0.06 per cent. Scopolamine decomposes into scopoline and 
atropic acid when treated with boiling baryta water. Scopoline 
resembles tropine, a principle formed from atropine and hyoscyamine, 
when similarly treated. 

Scopolia Leaves (Fig. 252) are used in medicine like belladonna 
leaves, and are said to be sometimes admixed with them. They are 
obovate, slightly acuminate, and taper gradually into the rather long 
petiole. The calyx lobes are relatively short, and the capsular 



HENBANE 595 

fruit (pyxis) is almost completely enclosed by the calyx tube (Fig. 
252, B). A very few glandular hairs with a 1- or 2-celled stalk and 
2- to 6-celled head may be present occasionally (Fig. 252, H). In 
addition to tracheae with annular and spiral markings, and simple 
pores there are in the stem, tracheae with reticulate markings, but 
those with bordered pores do not occur. The crystals of calcium 
oxalate resemble those in belladonna. In glycerin preparations 
spherite aggregates resembling those of carbohydrates are present, 
especially in the calyx. Acicular crystals sometimes separate in 
chloral preparations, but as they are isotropic they are apparently 
not calcium oxalate. The epidermis of the leaves, particularly the 
cells of the under surface, are irregularly papillose, giving a tuber- 
culate appearance on transverse section (Fig. 252, E), and in sur- 
face view a deeply wrinkled or folded character to the walls. As in 
the rhizome, bast fibers and wood fibers are apparently not present. 
There is, however, a strongly developed layer of collenchymatous 
cells in the stem, the thickenings being more uniform and more 
marked than those in the collenchymatous cells of belladonna. 

Allied Plants. — Japanese belladonna is the rhizome of Scopolia 
japonica, growing in Japan, and closely related to S. carniolica. The 
drug resembles scopola and apparently contains the same principles. 
The rhizomes of six other species of Scopolia are also used. 

Literature. — Kraemer, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1908, p. 459. 

Hyoscyamus. — Henbane. — The leaves and flowering tops of 
Hyoscyamus niger (Fam. Solanacese), an annual or biennial herb 
(Figs. 255 to 261), probably indigenous to Europe, western Asia and 
northern Africa and cultivated in Germany, Russia, England and 
the northern United States and Canada, and also naturalized in 
waste places. The leaves are collected shortly after flowering from 
biennial plants of the second year's growth, and carefully dried and 
preserved. The commercial article comes chiefly from Germany. 

Description. — Usually in irregular, matted fragments. Stem 
hollow, cylindrical, flattened, longitudinally furrowed and wrinkled 
3 to 4 mm. in diameter; internodes 1 to 3.5 cm. in length. Leaves 
ovate or ovate-lanceolate, 5 to 10 cm. in length, 2 to 7 cm. in breadth, 
summit acuminate; base amplexicaul; margin acutely four-lobed; 
upper surface dark green and pubescent; under surface grayish- 
green and glandular-pubescent; midrib yellowish-green, from which 
veins of the first order diverge at an angle of from 10° to 35° and 
pass into the lobes; texture fragile. Flowers solitary and with a 
pedicel about 4 mm. in length; calyx tubular, 5-toothed ; about 10 
mm. in length, outer surface very pubescent; corolla 5-parted, the 



596 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



lobes more or less unequal, somewhat spreading, the tube purplish, 
the limb yellowish, reticulate from purplish veins; stamens five, 
declined, mostly exserted; stigma capitate. Fruit, a two-locular 




Fig 255 -Photographic reproduction of Plate 2 in Vol. XX Reichenbach s 
Icones Flora Germanicse et Helvetica- 7, Hyoscyamus albus L. ; 77, Hyos- 
cyamus niger L.; 777, Hyoscyamus niger L. var. pallidus Koch. 1, Ala- 
bastrum ut videas sestivationem imbracatem; 2, Flos transsectus; 3, 
Fructus transsectusvides operculum pyxidis; 4, Semen; 5; 6, Semma trans- 
sectus' 7, Area3 teste— After Farwell, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1915, p. 100. 



pyxis Seeds numerous, campylotropous, somewhat reniform, flat- 
tened, 1 mm. in length, light brown, finely pitted, with a curved 



HENBANE 



597 



'embryo embedded in the endosperm; odor distinct; taste bitter and 
somewhat acrid. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 262.) Somewhat resembling in structure 
belladonna leaves, but the crystal layer contains monoclinic prisms 
of calcium oxalate, the hairs are different as well as more abundant, 
and the epidermal cells are but slightly undulate. 

Powder. — (Fig. 262.) Grayish green or dark green; calcium 
oxalate in single or twin monoclinic prisms from 0.010 to 0.025 
mm. in diameter, occasionally in rosette-shaped crystals; non- 




Fig. 256. — Hyoscyamus niger, biennial. Portion of a plot showing rosette 
character of the leaves and their long petioles. — After Newcomb. 



glandular hairs, unicellular or uniseriate, consisting of 2 to 10 cells; 
glandular hairs, either uniseriate or having a 1- to 4-celled stalk and 
a 6- to 8- or more celled head; fragments of midrib showing strong 
development of collenchyma with large intercellular spaces; frag- 
ments of epidermis having broadly elliptical stomata, 0.030 to 0.035 
mm. in length, having 3 to 4 neighboring cells; fragments of tracheae 
with wood fibers, having thin, porous walls and showing little or no 
lignification. 



598 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 257. — Gathering Hyoscyamus. Wellcome Materia Medica Farm, — After 
Carr. Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1913, p. 482. 




Fig. 258. — Flowering branches of Hyoscyamus niger, annual. — After Newcomb, 
Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1914, p. 533. 



HENBANE 



599 




Fig. 259. — Flowers of Hyoscyamus niger, annual. — After Newcomb 




Fig. 260. — Flowering branches of Hyoscyamus pallidus. — After Newcomb. 



600 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Constituents. — The alkaloids hyoscyamine and hyoscine (scopola- 
mine) 0.08 to 0.15 per cent, of which three-fourths is hyoscyamine; 
an odorous principle in the nature of a butyric ether or butyrin; a 
glucosidal bitter principle, hyospicrin; potassium nitrate, about 2 
per cent, and calcium oxalate. 

Hyoscyamine (an isomer of atropine) occurs in colorless, silky 
needles with an acrid, disagreeable taste, partly soluble in water, 
soluble in alcohol, and is readily decomposed into atropine. It forms 
crystalline salts, of which the hydrobromide is official. Hyoscine 
forms prismatic crystals, which are soluble in water and alcohol, and 
yields scopoline (oscine) and tropic acid. 




Fig. 261. — Flowers of Hyoscyamus pallidus. — After Newcomb. 

Newcomb and Hayner obtained 0.156 per cent of alkaloids in 
the flowering tops of Hyoscyamus niger and 0.13 per cent of alkaloids 
in H. pallidus (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1916, 88, p. 1). 

Hyoscyamus Muticus. — The leaves and flowering tops of Hyos- 
cyamus muticus, a plant growing in Egypt, are sometimes admixed 
with and substituted for Hyoscyamus niger. It yields about 1.34 
per cent of alkaloids, consisting in a large part of Hyoscyamine. Its 
presence in either the crude or powdered drug of Hyoscyamus may 
be determined by the characteristic branching non-glandular hairs 
occurring on both the stems and leaves (Fig. 263). 



DUBOISIA 



601 



Allied Plants. — Hyoscyamine is also found in Datura Stramonium, 
Atropa Belladonna, Anisodus luridus, Duboisia myoporoides, Lactuca 
sativa and L. virosa, the two latter plants belonging to the Com- 
posite. Hyoscine (scopolamine) is also present in belladonna root, 
the seeds of Hyoscyamus niger, the leaves of Datura Stramonium, 




Fig. 262. — Hyoscyamus: a, surface view of cells of the epidermis, showing also 
a single stoma; b, surface view of cells of the lower epidermis and 2 stomata; 
c, uniseriate non-glandular hairs; d, glandular hairs; e, monoclinic prisms of 
calcium oxalate; /, fragment of xylem showing the wood fibers (w), and 
tracheae having simple pores (p), bordered pores (s), and spiral thickenings 
(I); g, three bast fibers in transverse section. 



Datura fastuosa of the East Indies, the leaves of Duboisia myo- 
poroides and the roots of Scopolia japonica and S. atropoides. 

Duboisia leaves are obtained from|Duboisia myoporoides, a large 
shrub indigenous to Australia. They are short-petiolate, 7 to 10 
cm. in length, 1.5 to 2.5 cm. in breadth, having an acute or narrow 



602 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



summit and base, and entire or somewhat revolute margin. In the 
drug they usually occur in broken fragments, which are thin, greenish, 
brown, and have a slight distinct odor and bitter taste. They con- 



Fig 




263. — Hyoscyamus muticus: A, leaf. B, portion of upper surface of leaf. 
C, portion of lower surface. D, section of flower showing calyx (c), lobed 
corolla (p), stamens inserted on corolla tube (s), ovary (o). E, portion of 
stalk with fruits showing cylindrical calyx. F, pollen grains in different 
views. G, portion of xylem of stem showing tracheae (t) with bordered pores, 
wood fibers (w) with oblique simple pores. H, characteristic branching 
hairs found on the stem, leaves and calyx. K, crystals of calcium oxalate. 
L, seed with epidermal cells having wavy walls, those at the edge being seen 
in section and showing that the outer wall is not thickened. 



tain in addition to hyoscyamine (duboisine) and hyoscine, the alka- 
loid pseudohyoscyamine, which occurs in small needle-shaped crys- 
tals that are difficultly soluble in water but readily soluble in alcohol. 



STRAMONIUM 603 

Duboisia Leichardtii also contains a large amount of alkaloids, 
resembling those of Duboisia. Pituri or Australian tobacco is the 
leaf of Duboisia Hopwoodii, and is used in Australia like tobacco. 
It contains 2.5 per cent of a liquid alkaloid piturine, which has a 
pungent odor and taste, and closely resembles nicotine. 

Literature. — Miller, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1913, p. 295; Carr, 
Ibid., 1913, p. 487; Newcomb, Ibid., 1914, p. 531, and 1915, p. 1; 
The Chemistry of the Duboisias, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1918, 90, 
p. 34; Mueller, Jour. A. Ph. A, 1918, 7, p. 127; Koch, Amer. Jour. 
Pharm., 1919, 91, p. 68. 

Stramonium. — Stramonium Leaves. — The leaves and flowering 
tops of Datura Stramonium (Fam. Solanacese), commonly known 
as Jimson Weed or Jamestown Weed, an annual herb (Figs. 242 and 
264), probably indigenous to the region of the Caspian Sea, natural- 
ized in waste places in Europe and North America, and cultivated in 
France, Germany and Hungary. The leaves and tops are collected 
when the plant is in flower, and are carefully dried and preserved, 
the chief portion of the commercial supply being obtained from 
cultivated plants. 

Description. — Usually in irregular, matted fragments. Stem 
cylindrical, flattened, longitudinally furrowed and wrinkled, 2 to 
5 mm. in diameter; internodes 1.5 to 2 cm. in length. Leaves ovate 
(Fig. 242), 6 to 20 cm. in length, 2 to 12 cm. in breadth; summit 
acuminate; base unequal, one side extending 3 to 12 mm. below the 
other; margin irregularly sinuate-lobed, the lobes acute; upper 
surface dark green, nearly glabrous, under surface yellowish-green, 
glabrous, slightly pubescent on the veins, midrib dark brown, veins 
of the first order diverging from it at an angle of 45° to 65°, dividing 
near the margin and the main branches passing into the lobes; petiole 
dark brown, 0.5 to 4.5 cm. long, circular in cross-section; texture 
fragile. Flowers solitary, pedicel 2 to 10 mm. in length, calyx 5- 
toothed, about 4 cm. in length, separating transversely near the base 
at maturity, the upper part falling away; corolla funnel-shaped, 
yellowish- or purplish-white, about 8 cm. in length, limb plaited, 
5-lobed; stamens five, included, inserted near the middle of the 
corolla tube; stigma slightly 2-lobed. The immature fruit (Fig. 
242) somewhat conical, 4-valved. Seeds numerous; odor disa- 
greeable; taste unpleasant, nauseous. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 264. 

Powder. — (Fig. 265.) Brownish-green or dark green; calcium 
oxalate usually in rosette aggregates, from 0.010 to 0.020 mm. in 
diameter, occasionally in prisms, and in the cells near the bi-collateral 



604 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



vascular bundles of the veins in the form of sphenoidal microcrystals; 
non-glandular hairs usually only present on the younger leaves, 
uniseriate, consisting of 2 to 5 cells and from 0.200 to 0.500 mm. in 
length, the lower cells being very broad and the cuticle throughout 
being very papillose; glandular hairs few, with 1- to 2-celled stalks 
and usually 2- to 4-celled, glandular heads; tracheae annular or 
spiral, fragments of the tracheal wall frequently detached; stomata 




Fig. 264. — Breeding plot of Stramonium at the Experimental Farm of Eli 
Lilly & Company, Indianapolis, Ind. 



elliptical, about 0.025 mm. in length and having 3 to 5 neighboring 
cells; cells of the mesophyll containing numerous small chloroplastids. 
Constituents. — The important constituents of Stramonium leaves 
are similar to those of belladonna leaves, the amount of total alka- 
loids, however, being about one-half less (0.2 to 0.4 per cent). The 
substance known as daturine is a mixture of hyoscyamine and atro- 
pine, the former being in excess (see Belladonna Folia and Hyos- 
cyamus). Stramonium leaves also contain a volatile oil, resin, and 
yield about 17 per rent of ash, containing considerable potassium 
nitrate. 



STRAMONIUM 605 

The amount of total alkaloids varies in different parts of the same 
plant and has been reported as follows: Roots, 0.2 per cent; stems, 
0.02 per cent; leaves, 0.35 per cent, and seeds, 0.25 per cent. 

Koch (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1919, 91, p. 11) finds that the ratio of 
leaves to stems is about 47.5 to 52.5. The ratio of leaf to stem and 
root, the leaf represents 41 per cent of the whole. Furthermore he 
finds that the entire plant of stramonium, with or without the root, 
can be harvested without the total alkaloidal content falling below 
0.25 per cent. (See also Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1919, 91, p. 186.) 



Fig. 265. — Transverse section of midrib of leaf of stramonium: EU, upper epi- 
dermis; CO, collenchyma; PA, palisade cells; O, layer of cells containing 
rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate; M, loose mesophyll; EL, lower 
epidermis; OP, prisms of calcium oxalate; OS, sphenoidal microcrystals of 
calcium oxalate; ST, stoma; T, trachese; SU, sieve on upper side of xylem; 
SL, sieve on lower side of xylem, this arrangement of sieve and tracheae 
forming bi-collateral fibrovascular bundles. 

Stramonii Semen (Stramonium Seed). — Campylotropous, reni- 
form, flattened, about 3 to 4 mm. in length, 2 to 3 mm. in breadth; 
externally bluish-black, minutely reticulate; hard but easily cut 
lengthwise along the edge; internally whitish, the reserve layer 
occupying about one-half the seed, the embryo crook-shaped; odor 
slight, disagreeable when the drug is bruised ; taste bitter. 

The powder is brownish-black or grayish-black; epidermal cells 
having thick somewhat mucilagionous outer walls, and small lumina 
having a dark brown content; sub-epidermal layer of thick-walled, 



606 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

nearly colorless cells with distinct, crescent-shaped lamellae in the 
radial walls and reticulate pores. The cells of the endosperm con- 
tain considerable oil and more or less numerous aleurone grains, the 
latter having 1 or 2 crystalloids and a number of globoids. 

Stramonium seeds contain about 25 per cent of fixed oil ; proteins ; 
about 0.4 per cent of alkaloids, consisting principally of hyoscyamine, 
together with a small proportion of atropine and scopolamine (hyos- 
cine) ; ash 2 to 3 per cent. 

The Purple Stramonium (Datura Tatula) which is naturalized 
in the United States from tropical America resembles D. Stramonium, 
but the stems and flowers are purplish. The constituents in the two 
plants are similar. Several other species are also used in medicine, 
as Datura arborea indigenous to Chile and Peru, and cultivated for 
its handsome flowers. The leaves contain 0.44 per cent of total alka- 
loids. 

Adulterant. — The drug from Spain and France has been entirely 
substituted by the leaves of Xanthium macrocarpum (Fam. Com- 
posite). The leaves are smaller yellowish-green and prickly hairy. 
There are several types of hairs the one being lignified. (Guerin, 
Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1918, 90, p. 885). 

Literature.— Kraemer, Torrey Bot. Club, 1900, p. 37; Miller 
and Meader, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1912, p. 446. 

Capsicum. — Cayenne or Chilli Pepper. — The dried ripe fruit of 
one or more species of Capsicum, probably Capsicum fastigiatum, 
Capsicum frutescens, and Capsicum minimum (Fam. Solanacese), 
shrubs indigenous to tropical America, and cultivated in tropical 
Africa, India, America, and Japan. There are 2 principal varieties, 
African and Japanese. The African cayenne or chillies come 
chiefly from the ports of Mombasa and Zanzibar, British East 
Africa, and are usually designated in the trade by the name of the 
port from which shipped. These fruits are usually imported in the 
whole condition and are ground for use. The Japanese Chillies 
come from the port of Kobe, Japan, and are used chiefly in the 
unground condition for the preparation of the so-called " chilli 
sauce." 

Description. — Oblong, conical, laterally compressed; the African 
cayenne from 10 to 15 mm. in length and the Japanese from 15 to 44 
mm. in length, with an inconspicuous 5-toothed calyx and sometimes 
a slender, straight pedicel about 15 mm. in length; externally brown- 
ish-red (African cayenne) or bright red (Japanese cayenne), glabrous, 
shiny, somewhat translucent, more or less shriveled; summit acute, 
base somewhat rounded; pericarp coriaceous, thin; inner surface 



CAPSICUM 



607 



with two or three distinct longitudinal ridges, longitudinally striate, 
2- or 3-locular, dissepiments thin, united below; seeds 10 to 20, 
campylotropous, irregularly circular or obovate, flattened, pointed, 
about 3 to 4 mm. in diameter, 0.5 mm. in thickness, edge slightly 
thickened, embryo curved, embedded in the endosperm; odor dis- 




Fig. 266. — Stramonium: a, upper epidermis with 3 stomata; b, lower epidermis 
and 2 stomata; c, non-glandular hairs, the cuticle strongly papillose; d, 
glandular hairs; e, various forms of calcium oxalate crystals; /, portion of 
xylem showing wood fibers (w), and tracheae having simple pores (p), bor- 
dered pores (s) and annular and spiral thickenings {I). 



tinct. The pericarp of African chillies have a slightly acid and 
pungent taste; the seeds a sweetish, bland and pungent taste; and 
the dissepiments are extremely pungent. The pericarp of Japanese 
chillies have a slightly bitter acid, and mildly pungent taste; the 



608 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



seeds being sweetish, bland and mildly pungent; and the dissepi- 
ments are extremely pungent. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 267. 

Powder.— Yellowish-brown or brownish-red; taste very pun- 
gent and characteristic; stone cells of two kinds, either nearly isodia- 
metric, uniformly thickened and with middle lamella slightly ligni- 




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Fig. 267. — Garden pepper (Capsicum annuum): A, transverse section of pericarp 
showing epidermis {ep)) hypodermis (ko), secretion cells having thick, porous 
suberized walls and contain oil (o) and resin; parenchyma (pa) ; fibrovascular 
bundle (g) ; inner epidermis (i, ep) composed of thick, lignified, porous cells. 
B, diagram of fertilized ovule showing hilum (N), micropyle (m), integu- 
ment (J), fibrovascular bundle (gf), embryo-sac (Es) egg-cell (e), antipoda- 
cells (a). C, longitudinal and transverse sections of a stone cell from the 
epidermis of the seed-coat showing the characteristic sinuous-thickened, 
lignified inner and side walls. — A, after Hanausek; B, C, after Meyer. 



fied, or somewhat elongated on surface view, convolutely thickened 
on the inner and side walls and strongly lignified ; starch grains from 
unripe fruits somewhat spheroidal, from 0.003 to 0.007 mm. in 
diameter, single or compound; glandular hairs of calyx having 1- to 



PAPRIKA 609 

3-celled stalks and multicellular glandular heads; collenchymatous 
cells with suberized walls and containing yellowish-red oil globules 
and irregular masses of chromoplastids ; epidermal cells, polygonal, 
the cuticle being striated. 

Powdered capsicum is sometimes admixed with about 1 per cent 
of a fixed oil to improve its appearance, and such powders are likely 
to contain in addition some of the commercial starches or by-products 
obtained in the manufacture of cereal products. 

Constituents. — Two crystalline pungent principles which are 
found principally in the dissepiments of the fruit: capsaicin, which 
is slightly soluble in water and is volatile at 115° C. forming irritating 
vapors; and capsacutin, which is so powerful that 1 part in 11,000,- 
000 of water has a distinct pungent taste. Capsicum also contains 
a volatile alkaloid resembling coniine; a volatile oil with an odor 
of parsley; resin; a small quantity of starch; a fixed oil, consisting 
of oleic, palmitic and stearic acids; and yields 4 to 6 per cent of ash. 

The red coloring principle of the pericarp is very slightly soluble 
in alcohol, but soluble in ether, petroleum ether, carbon disulphide 
and chloroform. 

Allied Drugs. — A capsicum of inferior quality known as Bombay 
Pepper is obtained from plants growing in the vicinity of the River 
Niger in Africa. The fruits are dull yellow or brown in color, 2 to 3 
cm. long and about 10 mm. in diameter. 

At the present time a considerable amount of a small spheroidal 
chilli pepper known as " cherries " is imported from India. 

Paprika, also known as Hungarian Pepper or Paprika, Turkish 
Pepper or Paprika, or Garden Pepper. This is a large fruited pepper 
obtained from a variety of Capsicum annuum growing in Hungary. 
Its origin is somewhat obscure. It apparently is indigenous to 
America and can be traced from its introduction into Spain thence to 
Greece, Turkey and Hungary. Paprika is recognized by the German 
Pharmacopoeia. The fruits when fresh are 5 to 10 cm. in length, 
5 to 7 cm. in diameter, more or less inflated, externally of a bright 
green, yellow or red color; the pericarp is 2 to 3 mm. in thickness, 
enclosing a large cavity, which has 1 or 2 dissepiments at the base, 
and contains numerous flattened seeds about 3 to 5 mm. in diameter. 

Standard of Purity. — Red pepper is the red, dried, ripe fruit of 
any species of Capsicum. It contains not more than 8 per cent of 
total ash, nor more than 1 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric 
acid. 

Cayenne Pepper, Cayenne, is the dried, ripe fruit of Capsicum 
frutescens L., Capsicum baccatum L., or some other small-fruited 



610 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

species of Capsicum. It contains not less than 15 per cent of non- 
volatile ether extract, not more than 1.5 per cent of starch, not 
more than 28 per cent of crude fiber, not more than 7 per cent of 
total ash, nor more than 1 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric 
acid. 

Paprika is the dried, ripe fruit of Capsicum annuum L. It 
contains not more than 8.5 per cent of total ash, nor more than 1 per 
cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. The iodin number of its 
extracted oil is not less than 125, nor more than 136. 

Hungarian paprika is paprika having the pungency and flavor 
characteristic of that grown in Hungary. 

(a) Rosenpaprika, Rozsapaprika, Rose Paprika, is Hungarian 
paprika prepared by grinding specially selected pods of paprika, from 
which the placentae, stalks, and stems have been removed. It con- 
tains no more seeds than the normal pods, not more than 18 per cent 
of non-volatile ether extract, not more than 23 per cent of crude 
fiber, not more than 6 per cent of total ash, nor more than .4 per cent 
of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. 

Konigspaprika, King's Paprika, is Hungarian paprika prepared 
by grinding whole pods of paprika without selection, and includes 
the seeds and stems naturally occurring with the pods. It contains 
not more than 18 per cent of nonvolatile ether extract, not more than 
23 per cent of crude fiber, not more than 6.5 per cent of total ash, nor 
more than .4 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. 

Pimenton, Pimiento, Spanish Paprika, is paprika having the 
characteristics of that grown in Spain. It contains not more than 
18 per cent of nonvolatile ether extract, not more than 21 per cent 
of crude fiber, not more than 8.5 per cent of total ash, nor more 
than 1 per cent of ash insoluble in hydrochloric acid. (U. S. Dept. 
Agric.) 

Paprika is usually imported into the United States in a ground 
condition, 3 grades being recognized in commerce: (A), Rosen- 
paprika or Rozsapaprika, the best grade, possesses a beautiful red 
color and has a savory taste. It is prepared from the selected peri- 
carp and seeds which are carefully washed before being ground, the 
stems and placentae being removed. (B), Konigspaprika or Kiraly- 
paprika is prepared by grinding the entire pods including not only 
the seeds but the stems. (C). Mercantilpaprika is prepared from 
the spotted pods, remaining from the selection for the finer grades, 
and from the pods containing flaws and also contains the stems, 
seeds and other parts. The last grade has a pale yellow color and 
is much more pungent. 



BITTERSWEET 611 

Pimenton or Pimiento, also known as Spanish Paprika, is the 
fruit of a large-fruited pepper, a variety of Capsicum annuum, growing 
in Spain. The succulent pericarp is much used for stuffing of olives, 
while the dry pod is ground as a spice. The pods are nearly spheroi- 
dal from 2.5 to 4 cm. in length and 4 to 6 cm. in diameter, of a bright 
red color, and with no perceptible pungency. The pericarps have a 
sweet acid taste and a peculiar odor. The seeds have a very slight 
bitter, bland taste, with a slight odor. The placentae are dark red 
in color and have a taste similar to the pericarp. Like the Hungarian 
pepper it is usually imported in the ground condition. 

Literature. — Tolman and Mitchell, Bull. No. 163, Bureau of 
Chemistry, U. S. Dept. of Agriculture. 

Dulcamara. — Stipites Dulcamara, Caules Dulcamara, 
True Bittersweet. — The young branches of Solanum Dulcamara 
(Fam. Solanaceae), a somewhat woody climber, indigenous to Europe 
and Asia, growing in moist thickets in the northern United States 
and Canada, and to some extent cultivated. The leaves are ovate- 
cordate, frequently having 2 lobes or leaflets at the base; the corolla 
is blue, the stamens yellow and exserted; and the fruit is an ovoid 
or sub-globular red berry. The latter are sometimes eaten by chil- 
dren with fatal effects. The woody, 2 or 3 year old, twigs are gath- 
ered in the early spring or the late fall, cut into small pieces and dried. 

Description. — In short cylindrical or elliptical pieces, from 3 
to 6 mm. in length and having a diameter from 4 to 6 mm. ; outer 
surface light yellowish or greenish brown, longitudinally wrinkled 
or furrowed and frequently showing leaf scars and a development 
of scaly cork; easily broken into 3 or 5 fragments; inner surface 
showing a thin, yellowish-brown corky layer, a small, dark-brown, 
somewhat lamellated cortex, a broad, yellowish, porous wood, and 
a large hollow pith; odor slight, distinct; taste of bark bitter, and of 
wood sweetish. 

Inner Structure. — Epidermal layer having a thin cuticle which is 
present in the young twigs, and is usually replaced in the older stems 
by a layer of cork; cortical parenchyma consisting of a few strata of 
thin-walled cells, containing chloroplastids; pericycle of an inter- 
rupted circle of small groups of bast fibers; fibrovascular bundles, 
bi-collateral, separated by uniseriate medullary rays; secondary 
cortex of narrow strands of leptome and parenchyma containing 
sphenoidal microcrystals; xylem having numerous wood fibers, a 
few tracheae and wood parenchyma; small strands of intraxylary 
leptome; pith hollow, having a few large parenchyma cells at the 
periphery. 



612 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Powder. — Light yellowish brown; fragments of numerous ligni- 
fied wood fibers having bordered pores, and associated with a few 
wide tracheae possessing simple pores; occasional non-lignified bast 
fibers and fragments of yellowish-brown cork; sphenoidal micro- 
crystals from 0.003 to 0.007 mm. in diameter; starch grains few, 
nearly spheroidal, from 0.005 to 0.012 mm. in diameter; occasional 
long unicellular hairs having thick walls and a papillose cuticle. 

Constituents. — A bitter glucosidal principle, dulcamarin, soluble 
in water and alcohol and yielding upon hydrolysis glucose and dul- 
camaretin, the latter being tasteless. About 0.03 of a gluco-alka- 
loid, solanine, which forms prisms and is soluble in amyl alcohol, 
slightly soluble in hot alcohol, only sparingly soluble in boiling water, 
and upon hydrolysis yields dextrose and a crystalline alkaloid, 
solanidine. Also ash, having a greenish color, not more than 6 per 
cent. 

Solanine occurs in all parts of the potato plant and under certain 
conditions may accumulate in the tubers. It occurs from 0.79 to 
0.41 parts per 1000 parts of potatoes. It may be present in sprouting 
potatoes in a sufficient amount to cause serious poisoning. (Harris 
and Cockburn, Amer. Jour. Phar., 1918, 90, p. 722.) 

Adulterants. — The following drugs have been substituted for 
Dulcamara: The stems of false bittersweet (Celastrus scandens) 
which are more woody and not hollow; hop stems which are rough 
hairy; and the rhizome of Saponaria which is terete and wrinkled 
(Fig. 86). 

Solanum Carolinense. — Horse Nettle. — The ripe fruit of 
Solanum carolinense (Fam. Solanacese), a perennial herb, propagat- 
ing extensively by rhizomes and growing in dry fields and waste 
places throughout the eastern and central United States. The stem 
is erect, branched, rough-pubescent, and covered with stout, yellowish 
prickles (Fig. 268). The leaves are oblong-ovate, sinuate lobed, 
hairy and prickly like the stem. The flowers are regular and arranged 
in unilateral racemes ; the calyx is 5-parted, the lobes being lanceolate 
or acuminate; the corolla is 5-lobed, rotate, light blue; the stamens, 
of which there are 10, are orange yellow and connivent; the ovary 
is 2-locular, becoming in fruit a superior globose berry. The latter 
is collected when ripe, during the summer, and carefully dried. 

Description. — Globular, pericarp much shriveled; from 7 to 18 
mm. in diameter; externally, when fresh, orange yellow, becoming 
yellowish brown or greenish brown on drying, epicarp nearly smooth 
and shiny and usually much wrinkled and subtended by the 5-lobed 
hairy calyx; pericarp very thin and membranous, brittle; placentae 



HORSE NETTLE 



613 



more or less fleshy and on which are borne numerous seeds; the latter 
are broadly elliptical or somewhat reniform, flattened, campylo- 
tropous, about 2 mm. in length, yellowish or dark brown and nearly 
smooth, endosperm large, embryo curved: odor slight; taste slightly 
bitter and acrid. 




Fig. 268. — Horse nettle (Solanum carolinense) : A, portion of shoot showing 
flowers and fruits and spines on leaves and stem. B, longitudinal section of 
spine (s) and portion of stem showing glandular (g) and non-glandular (h) 
hairs, and cells containing sphenoidal microcrystals (ca). C, thick-walled, 
strongly lignified cells of spine. D, portion of fibrovascular bundle showing 
microcrystals (ca) of calcium oxalate in the cells accompanying the sieve. 
E, stellate, non-glandular hair. F, stoma of stem. G, diagram of cross- 
section of flower showing sepals (s), petals (p), stamens (a), ovary (c). H, 
longitudinal section of flower. /, stamen showing terminal pores. J, 
cross-section of 2-locular berry. K, pollen grains about 0.030 mm. in diam- 
eter. 



Constituents. — An alkaloid, solnine, which crystallizes in ortho- 
rhombic prisms, that are insoluble in water and very soluble in 



614 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

chloroform and hot alcohol, and have an acrid and bitter taste, leaving 
a persistent tingling sensation on the tongue. The drug also contains 
solanine. 

Literature. — Lloyd, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1894, p. 161. 

Manaca. — Radix Manaca, Franciscera or Brunfelsia. — The 
dried root of Brunfelsia Hopeana (Fam. Solanaceae), a large shrub 
growing along streams in Brazil and other parts of tropical America. 
While all parts of the plants are used in Brazil the root has only been 
introduced into general medicine very recently. 

Description. — Usually in pieces, from 6 to 10 cm. in length and 
from 1 to 2 cm. in thickness; externally reddish-brown, much 
wrinkled and with a scaly cork, which with the thin cortex is easily 
separable from the light yellowish wood; very tough; inner surface, 
bark thin, reddish-brown, wood large and very finely radiate; inodor- 
ous; taste sweetish and slightly bitter. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 269.) 

Constituents. — Manacine, a very poisonous alkaloid, resembling 
strychnine in its physiological actions. It also contains manaceine, 
and a resinous substance which is apparently identical with sesculetin, 
occurring in the bark and seeds of the horse chestnut tree. 

Adulterants. — A large fusiform root, has been sold for manaca, 
being about 30 cm. in length and from 2 to 5 cm. in diameter; it has 
a very scaly membranous cork, a dark brown cortex and a large yel- 
lowish-white wood. The taste at first is aromatic, resembling 
orange peel, becoming acrid and pungent, leaving a persistent tingling 
sensation on the tongue. The origin of this root is unknown, although 
it is probably somewhat related to true Manaca. 

Tabacum. — Folia Nicotianae, Leaf Tobacco. — The dried leaves 
of the Virginia Tobacco plant, Nicotiana Tabacum (Fam. Solanaceae), 
a tall annual herb indigenous to tropical America and widely culti- 
vated. The stem is simple, giving rise to large, pubescent, ovate, 
entire, decurrent leaves, the veins of which are prominent and more 
or less hairy. The flowers are long, tubular, pink or reddish and 
occur in terminal spreading cymes. The various forms of tobacco 
are made from the leaves, which are hung in barns, whereby they 
undergo a slow drying or process of curing. Other species of Nico- 
tiana are also cultivated, as N. persica, which yields Persian tobacco; 
and N. rustica, the source of Turkish tobacco. 

Inner Structure. — See Winton and Moeller, The Microscopy 
of Vegetable Foods. 

Powder. — Greenish-brown; non-glandular hairs, 3 to 6-celled, 
with a broad basal cell and not infrequently branching apical cells; 



MANACA 



615 




Fig. 269. — Manaca: A, transverse section of root: K, thin-walled cork which 
arises in the epidermal layer; Ct, cortex consisting mostly of starch-bearing 
parenchyma, and cells containing either rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate 
or a yellowish-brown amorphous content; the larger cells of which are 
mostly spheroidal in shape and usually lined with a thin layer of protoplasm; 
L, small strands of leptome; W , wood fibers; M, medullary rays consisting 
mostly of rectangular cells, having thick, porous walls; An, cells marking 
the rings of growth between the spring and fall wood as also of the cambium, 
usually filled with a yellowish-brown, amorphous substance; St, stone cells, 
usually developed between the wood fibers and medullary rays. B, longi- 
tudinal section showing tracheae having bordered pores (Tb); parenchyma 



616 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

glandular hairs of two kinds, either with a 1-celled stalk or a 3- to 5- 
celled stalk, the head in each case being rather small and with 8 to 9 
cells; stomata large and with 2 or .3 neighboring cells; epidermal 
cells striated and somewhat granular on surface view; the cells of 
the mesophyll with a greenish-brown content, and some of them with 
sphenoidal microcrystals. The following leaves have been used as 
adulterants: Chestnut (Fig. 73), cherry, rose, melilot, cabbage, 
chicory, beet, and lappa. In the manufacture of plug tobacco 
various other substances are added; as, licorice (Figs. 140 and 141), 
cloves (Fig. 202), anise (Fig. 206), orris root (Fig. 46), vanilla (Fig. 
57), tamarinds, prunes, besides other substances. 

Constituents. — Tobacco leaves contain from 0.6 to 9 per cent 
of the alkaloid nicotine; an aromatic principle nicotianin or tobacco 
camphor, to which the characteristic flavor is due and which is 
formed during the curing of the leaves. The dried leaves yield from 
14 to 15 per cent of ash, consisting in large part of potassium nitrate. 



SCROPHULARIACE.E, OR FIGWORT FAMILY 

A large family, represented by nearly 2500 species of herbs, 
shrubs or trees. The plants are characterized by having gamo- 
petalous corollas, which are either nearly regular or usually 2-lipped, 
the stamens being frequently didynamous, and the fruits are usually 
capsular. Among the anatomical characteristics the following may 
be mentioned. Neither a sub-epidermal collenchyma nor a scleren- 
chymatous ring in the pericycle are developed. The walls of the 
tracheae and wood fibers usually have simple pores, except when the 
former are in contact with the parenchyma cells, bordered pores are 
developed. Calcium oxalate is secreted in the form of small prisms, 
octahedra or acicular crystals. The non-glandular hairs are of four 
different kinds: (a), unicellular; (b), uniseriate; (c), unicellular, 
having cystoliths; and (d), multicellular, or branching, as in Ver- 
bascum and Pawlonia. The glandular hairs are of several types: 
(a), Those having a unicellular stalk and a unicellular secreting head; 
(b), having a 2- or more-celled glandular head; (c), peltate-glandular. 
The mesophyll of the leaves contain not infrequently crystals of 
carotin, or protein substances. In Scrophularia, idioblasts contain- 

(P); starch grains (S), being from 0.004 to 0.015 mm. in diameter; wood 
fibers (W); thick-walled medullary ray cells (M); stone cells (St). C, 
tangential section showing medullary ray cells (M) ; starch (S) ; wood fibers 
(W); stone cells (St). — Drawing by Haase. 



DIGITALIS 



617 



ing tannin extend from the epidermal layers to the fibrovascular 
bundles. 

Digitalis. — Fox Glove. — The leaves of Digitalis purpurea 
(Fam. Scrophulariacese), a biennial herb (Figs. 270, 271, 272 and 274) 
in various parts of Europe, and the western United States and Canada, 
also extensively cultivated. The leaves are collected throughout the 
summer from July to September, during the flowering of the plant, 
the best product being gathered in June prior to the expansion of the 
flowers. The leaves are carefully dried in the shade (preferably with 
the leaves on the stem as in the drying of tobacco), and stored so 




Fig. 270. — Digitalis purpurea: Leaf variations in different plants. It will be 
noted that the leaves vary in shapes, margins and character of the petioles. 
There is also considerable difference in the color of the leaves and their 
surfaces. These variations seem too great and diversified to be explained 
as individual variabilities. — After Miller, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1913, p. 300. 



probably indigenous to central and southern Europe, and naturalized 
that they will not become moulded. While ordinarily the leaves of 
the second year's plant are only collected, the leaves of the first year 
seem to be more active. It has also been considered that the 
leaves from cultivated plants are superior to those from wild plants, 
but this is probably due to the more careful drying and storing of the 
former. 

The most active digitalis is not necessarily the best from a 
pharmacological point of view, and pharmacologists prefer to use 



618 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



those preparations which show a maximum of therapeutic action 
with a minimum of side effects, such as the nauseant and emetic. 
It is not known at what period digitalis possesses this advantage, 




fc -a 



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0) >-m 

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o 



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fe ,d pQ 

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or how it may be developed, if at all, during the process of drying. 
In recent years it has been proposed that digitalis leaves should be 
carefully dried, stored in bottles or tight tin cans in which a bottle 



DIGITALIS 



619 



containing freshly burnt lime is placed, the latter container being 
covered with perforated parchment, but Hatcher's work would seem 
to show that this is unnecessary. Again, it is frequently empha- 
sized that the leaves should not be kept longer than one year, but the 
drug may be kept indefinitely, if the leaves have been carefully 
selected, properly dried and stored. Newcomb and Rogers found 
that the petioles of Digitalis were from one-fourth to one-fifth as 
active as the entire leaf. The active principles are in the cells within 




Fig. 272. — Cultivation of Digitalis: A general view of the Experimental Farm of 
Eli Lilly & Co. showing the testing and breeding of various species and 
varieties of Digitalis. — After Miller, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1913, p. 298. 



the leaf and apparently not developed in the hairs. The quality of 
digitalis is improved by separating the dirt siftings as much as 
possible. Most of the commercial supplies were obtained from Eng- 
land, Austria, Hungary, and the Harz and Vosges mountains of 
Europe, but much of the drug is now produced in the United States. 
In a study on the effect of temperature on drying digitalis leaves 
Hamilton (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1919, 91, p. 177), obtained the fol- 
lowing results. 



620 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Oven drying has no advantage over a reasonably rapid air drying 
of digitalis leaves. 

The drying causes a marked deterioration when conducted in an 
oven at a high temperature. 

The fresh drug has greater toxicity than the dried drug. 

No products more highly toxic than those present in the crude 
drug are developed during the process of drying. 

Description. — Usually more or less crumpled and broken into 
fragments;* lamina ovate-oblong or ovate-lanceolate, 10 to 25 cm. in 
length, 5 to 15 cm. in breadth; summit obtuse or rounded; base 
somewhat cuneate, tapering into the petiole; margin dentate or 
crenate,- the divisions with a yellowish-brown gland-like summit; 
upper surface dark green, minutely hairy, somewhat wrinkled, with 
a single water-pore near the summit of each tooth; under surface 
grayish-green, midrib grayish-brown, prominent, from which veins 
of the first order diverge at angles of 45° to 65° and unite with one 
another near the margin, and from which arise other anastomosing 
veins, giving a distinctly reticulate appearance; distinctly pubescent 
on the veins and frequently on the reticulations; petiole about one- 
third the length of the lamina or in the upper leaves nearly want- 
ing, grayish-brown, laminated; texture fragile; odor distinct; taste 
bitter. 

Leaves that are more than 30 cm. in length are usually rejected, 
as also the tuft of radical leaves of the first-year plant. 

Inner Structure. — See Figs. 273 to 276. 

Powder. — Dark green; non-glandular hairs, uniseriate, of 2 to 8 
(usually 2 to 5) cells, from 0.145 to 0.435 mm. in length, some of the 
cells being frequently collapsed; glandular hairs few, small, with a 
1- or 2-celled stalk and 1- or 2-celled glandular head; numerous 
irregular fragments of lamina showing epidermal cells having undu- 
late walls and scattered stomata or occasional water-pores. 

Localization of the Active Glucosides. — With means of sodium 
picrate reagent (one drop of 1 per cent picric acid solution mixed with 
one drop of 10 per cent sodium hydroxide solution) applied to sec- 
tions, the cells containing the glucosides are colored orange within 
one or two minutes. In all the species of Digitalis studied, including 
D. purpurea, lutea, ambigua, the glucosides were thus located in the 
epidermal cells, the non-glandular hairs, in the endodermis of the 
vascular bundles and some times in the subepiderml collenchyma. 
The leaf margin (epidermis and endodermis) gave the strongest 
reaction, the base of the petiole only a very faint one. Baljet, 
Schweiz. Apoth. Ztg., 1918, 56, p. 247. 



DIGITALIS 



621 



Constituents. — Several crystalline glucosides, including digitoxin 
(0.2 to 0.3 per cent), digitalin and digitonin, the former two being the 
more important. The drug also contains a volatile oil containing a 
stearoptene digitalosmin, which has the odor of digitalis and a nau- 




Fig. 273. — Transverse section of digitalis leaf, through one of the veins: UE, 
upper epidermis; P, chlorenchyma (mesophyll), containing chloroplastids; 
LE, lower epidermis; G, glandular hairs; N, non-glandular hairs; C, collen- 
chyma; T, tracheae or vessels; S, leptome or sieve. 



seous, acrid taste; a volatile principle, antirrhinic acid, somewhat 
resembling valerianic acid; digitalic acid, separating in white needles; 
two coloring principles, one red and the other yellow, resembling 
chrysophan, a glucoside found in rhubarb; an oxydase ferment which 
occurs in the recently dried leaves; a small quantity of tannic acid; 



622 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



and ash 10 to 16 per cent (consult Merck, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1913, 
p. 36). 

Digitoxin (Fig. 277) is a most powerful heart stimulant and yields 
on hydrolysis digitoxose and digitoxigenin. It occurs in white, 




Fig. 274. — Digitalis: A, a, typical leaf showing the winged or laminate petiole 
and the veins of the first order which diverge from the mid-vein at very 
acute angles. B, transverse section of portion of leaf showing the separated 
or additional epidermal layer (S) ; epidermal layer (E) ; glandular hair (G) ; 
non-glandular hair (N); collenchyma (C). C, transverse section near one 
of the veins showing considerable of the separated or extra epidermal layer 
(S); with two non-glandular hairs (AT) and glandular hair (G); epidermal 
layer (E); lower epidermis (LE); chlorophyl layer (N); upper epidermis 
(JJE); tracheae or vessels (T). 

needle-shaped crystals which are insoluble in water, but more or less 
soluble in alcohol, of a bitter taste and colored deep green with 



DIGITOXIN 



623 



hydrochloric acid. According to Schmiedeberg and Kiliana digi- 
toxin is a chemically uniform substance being present in the leaves, 
but not in the seeds. 

Digitoxin (solubile) Cloetta is an amorphous modification of 
digitoxin, and is only distinguished from the latter by the smaller 




Fig. 275. — Various forms of hairs of digitalis: A, various forms of apical cells. 

B, uniseriate, glandular hairs very common in leaves of cultivated plants. 

C, various non-glandular hairs showing crooked or bent apical cells. D, 
various forms of glandular hairs with short stalks. 



size of its molecule and its greater solubility in water. Kiliani, how- 
ever, is of the opinion that digitoxin Cloetta (digalen) is identical 
with digitalein. 

Digitoxine Pharmacopee francaise is essentially identical with 
digitoxin. The French Pharmacopoeia requires, inter alia, that 



624 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



the preparation shall give a green color when dissolved in concen- 
trated sulphuric acid, whereas commercial digitoxin gives a brown 
color on solution. 

Digitalin (digitalinuni verum) is a heart stimulant and yields on 
hydrolysis digitalose and digitaligenin. It occurs in white, rather 
characteristic granules which are sparingly soluble in water and more 




Fig. 276.— Digitalis: a, surface view of upper epidermis, showing slightly undu- 
late walls; b, lower epidermis, the cells having distinct undulate walls, 4 
stomata also being shown; c, a uniseriate non-glandular hair; d, several 
forms of glandular hairs; /, section of portion of xylem, showing tracheae 
having simple pores (p), reticulate thickenings (r), annular markings (I) 
and spiral thickening (e). 



or less soluble in alcohol, forming yellowish-colored solutions with 
concentrated hydrochloric or sulphuric acids. If the latter acid 
contains a trace of ferric sulphate solution a permanent bluish-red 
color is produced. 



DIGITALIN 625 

Digitalin with no other specification is a vague term, and should 
be avoided in the literature and in practice in order to eliminate a 
source of error and of confusion. The same applies to digitalinum 
and digit aline. 

Digitalin, amorphous. This designation is probably chiefly 
intended to cover digitalinum Gallicum (digit aline chloroformique) 
of the French pharmacopoeias of 1866 and 1895, a substance which is 
completely soluble in chloroform. But it must be remembered that 
digitalinum verum and digitalinum Germanicum are also amorphous. 




Fig. 277. — Digitoxin: sphero-crystals from an alcoholic solution. 

Digitalin (um) crystallisatum has so far been- used as a synony- 
mous term for digitonin. As this is misleading it would be better 
to avoid its use altogether. In commerce, however, names which 
have once been introduced are difficult to get rid of. 

Digitalin Homolle is a mixture of glucosides and their products 
of decomposition, contained in digitalis leaves, and is practically 
insoluble in water. 

Digitalin Homolle-Quevenne is the constituent of digitalin 
Homolle which is insoluble in a mixture of alcohol and ether. 

Digitalin Kiliani is identical with digitalinum verum. 

Digitalin Nativelle is a crystalline product prepared from digitalis 
leaves, which is probably not unlike digitoxin in constitution. Ac- 



626 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

cording to Schmiedeberg and Kiliani, it is a mixture of several sub- 
stances. 

Digitalin Schmiedeberg is a chemically uniform, amorphous 
body of the formula (CsHgCb)?. 

Digitalinum fluidum was the name given by Engelhardt to a 
liquid, volatile, oily substance obtained from digitalis leaves, and 
which he regarded as the active component of digitalis. 

Digitalinum Pharmacopee francaise, 1908, is identical with 
digitoxine Pharm. franc. 

Digitalinum Gallicum amorph. is obtained from digitalis leaves 
according to the method given in the Pharmacopee francaise, 1884. 
It also bears the name of " digitaline chloroformique." It is com- 
pletely soluble in chloroform and practically insoluble in water. 

Digitalinum Gallicum crystallisatum is either digitalin Nativelle 
or digitoxine Pharm. franc. 1908. 

Digitalinum Germanicum is an amorphous product obtained 
from digitalis seeds, and is soluble in water. It consists principally 
of digitalinum verum, digitalein and digitonin. 

Digitonin resembles in its physiological action quillajasaponin, 
and on hydrolysis yields dextrose, galactose and digitogenin. It is 
crystalline, soluble in water, somewhat soluble in alcohol, and 
remains colorless on treatment with hydrochloric acid; but a dilute 
sulphuric acid solution becomes garnet-red in color on boiling for 
some time. 

Digitonin, when anhydrous, occurs as an amorphous body, while 
with 5H2O it is a crystalline, chemically uniform body. 

Digitonin, amorphous, is digitonin Schmiedeberg. 

Digitonin cryst, is digitonin Kiliani. 

Digitonin Kiliani is pure, crystalline, hydrated digitonin 

(C 3 4H 9 2028 + 5H 2 0). 

Digitonin Schmiedeberg is amorphous, anhydrous, digitonin. 
According to Kraft, digitonin Schmiedeberg and digitonin Kiliani 
are not identical; he therefore suggests the designation " digit- 
saponin " for digitonin Schmiedeberg. 

Digitalein Nativelle was described by Nativelle as a physiolog- 
ically active glucoside, soluble in water and obtained from digitalis 
leaves. 

Digitalein Schmiedeberg is a glucoside soluble in water. Kiliani 
at first doubted the chemical individuality of the digitalein of Schmie- 
deberg. Keller and Hondas also took it to be digitonin. But 
Kiliani proved later that the seeds and leaves of digitalis contain a 
cardiac poison, soluble in water, which contains no digitalin, the 



DIGITALEIN 627 

physiological activity of which, therefore, precludes its identity 
with digitonin. Kiliani and Windaus suspected the presence of a 
lactone in digitalein, because its neutral aqueous solution gives an 
acid reaction on standing. This proves digitalein to be a distinct 
substance, of uniform composition. Kraft, on the other hand, accepts 
the nomenclature of digitalein only as a generic term for all the active 
glucosides which are soluble in water and are present in digitalis. He 
also places in this class, gitalin, an amorphous glucoside. 

Digit alene Buignet represents the glucosides of digitalis leaves, 
which are soluble in water. 

Digitalon is the lactone of digit alonic acid. The name " digi- 
talon " is also given to a special preparation — a solution of all the 
glucosides present in digitalis — to be used subcutaneously in doses of 
0.5 to 1 c.c. 

Gitalin is a glucoside which was obtained by Kraft from digi- 
talis leaves. It is soluble in 600 parts of cold water. According 
to Schmiedeberg, it corresponds in strength in its physiological 
action to digitalinum vcrum. 

The ash of Digitalis contains iron, calcium, magnesium, manga- 
nese, sodium, potassium and silica. The ash of leaves from cultivated 
plants usually averages higher than that obtained from wild plants. 
(Rogers and Newcomb, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1918, 90, p. 239.) 

Determination of the Chemical Value of Digitalis. — Tschirch 
and Wolter (Schweiz. Apoth Zeitg., 1918, 56, 470, 495, 512), 
have experimented with four species of digitalis leaves. Their 
results show that the best methods of extraction is that of Reed- 
Vanderkleed but that it requires much time, six days. For solvents 
they used ether, acetic ether, absolute alcohol, amyl alcohol, benzene, 
carbon tetra-chloride, chloroform, and acetone. Chloroform dis- 
solves only part of the active substances contained in the drug; with 
absolute alcohol all of the active substances pass into the extract; 
benzene does not dissolve all of them ; acetone is the best solvent for 
determining the chemical value of digitalis. The authors employed 
a modified method of Keller, the leaves of the digitalis being first 
subjected for extraction by ether in order to remove the oils and 
chlorophyl. After removing the ether by distillation, the leaves 
were extracted with absolute alcohol. After purification with lead, 
the entire glucosides were isolated by acetone, the acetone being 
separated from the liquid by the addition of sodium chloride. In 
this manner they obtained a complete exhaustion of the drug and the 
extract thus obtained has been called pandigiton and is said to pos- 
sess all the physiological properties of digitalis. 



628 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Allied Drugs. — The seeds of Digitalis purpurea are about 1 mm. 
or less in diameter, yellowish or dark brown, oblong or spatulate in 
section, more or less plano-convex and somewhat tuberculate. They 
contain apparently the same principles as the leaves. The seeds 
contain digitoxin which is said to be different from that obtained 
from the leaves and is known as a-digitoxin. 

The leaves of Digitalis grandiflora, growing abundantly in 
Switzerland, appear to be as efficient as those of Digitalis purpurea. 

Spanish Digitalis. — The stems, leaves, flowers and capsules of 
Digitalis Thapsi. The drug resembles mullein being of a yellowish- 
gray or of a yellowish-green color. Leaves in fragments, rarely 
entire, 3 to 15 cm. in length and 2 to 3 cm. in width, narrowly oblong 
or oblong-lanceolate, gradually tapering into a broad sessile base, 
margin coarsely denticulate, mid-vein prominent with 4 -to 6 incon- 
spicuous pairs of veins, both surfaces soft velvety covered with 
glandular hairs. Stems slender, 0.5 mm. long, green or purplish 
and densely covered with gland-tipped, 3- to 7-celled hairs. Flowers 
occasional and purplish. Capsules ovoid, about 15 mm. in length, 
greenish or pale brownish, usually partially separated and opening 
at the summit by a large pore. Odor slight; taste bitter and slightly 
acrid. It resembles Strophanthus in its pharmacologic properties 
and is about three times as toxic as Digitalis purpurea. (Farwell 
and Hamilton, Am. Jour. Pharm., 1917, 89, p. 147.) 

Digitalis Ambigua. — This species grows abundantly in 
Austria and the leaves seem to show a therapeutic activity equal to 
official Digitalis. (Chem. Zeit., Vol. 41, p. 99.) 

Adulterants. — The leaves of other cultivated varieties of Digitalis 
have been substituted for those of D. purpurea, as those of the 
Mammoth Foxglove (D. monstrosa), which is distinguished by produc- 
ing long, spike-like racemes which are terminated by one large flower. 

The leaves of Matico (Fig. 66) have numerous stomata and the 
non-glandular hairs are from 2- to 6-celled. The leaves of Salvia 
Scalarea (Fam. Labitas) possess non-glandular hairs somewhat 
resembling Digitalis, but the glandular hairs are of the labiate type 
with large, 8-celled, glandular heads. The leaves of Verbascum 
Phlomoides (Fam. Scrophulariacese) have multicellular, branching, 
non-glandular hairs resembling those of V. thapsus, and small 
glandular hairs resembling those of digitalis. The non-glandular 
hairs of Inula Conyza (Fam. Composite) are 3- to 4-celled with thick 
walls, the basal cell being broad and truncate. 

Literature. — Newcomb, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1911, 529; Borne- 
man, Ibid., 1912, p. 547; Miller, Ibid., 1913, p. 297; Hatcher, Drug. 



LEPTANDRA 629 

Circ, 1914, p. 517 and p. 607; Hatcher, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1918, 
90, p. 24; Newcomb and Rogers, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1918, 90 
p. 580. 

Leptandra. — Culver's Root. — The dried rhizome and roots of 
Leptandra virginica (Fam. Scrophulariacese), a perennial herb 
growing in meadows and moist woods of the eastern and central 
United States and Canada. The rhizome and roots are collected 
in autumn from plants of the second year's growth. When fresh the 
drug has an almond-like odor and a bitter, nauseous taste, which it 
loses in a measure on drying, and may be kept indefinitely. 

Description. — Rhizome horizontal, nearly cylindrical, somewhat 
branched, 4 to 10 cm. in length, 3 to 8 mm. in diameter; externally 
light brown to brownish-red; annulate from circular scars of bud- 
scales, upper surface with conical buds, short stem-remnants or stem- 
scars, the under and side portions with numerous roots or root-scars ; 
fracture tough; internally, bark dark brown, 0.3 to 1 mm. in thick- 
ness, wood about 0.5 to 1.5 mm. in thickness, pith light brown or 
brownish-black; odor slight; taste bitter, slightly acrid. 

Roots from 1 to 4 cm. in length, 0.5 to 1 mm. in diameter, exter- 
nally smooth; longitudinally wrinkled fracture short; internally, 
bark brownish-black, wood light brown. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 278.) Rhizome consisting of an epidermal 
layer having thin walls, which is replaced in older rhizomes by the 
products of the phellogen; cortex of starch-bearing parenchyma; a 
pericycle having a closed ring of several rows of stereids or elongated 
sclerenchymatous fibers; fibro vascular bundles collateral; radiate 
strands of phloem consisting of leptome and numerous thin-walled 
parenchyma; xylem consisting of wedges of thick-walled wood fibers 
and a few porous tracheae; medullary rays 1 cell in width; primary 
and secondary hadrome separated by a stratum of thin-walled paren- 
chyma, the cells of which do not become lignified. 

Roots consisting of epidermal cells having thick, lamellated 
outer walls; a hypodermis or layer of thin-walled, non-contractile 
cells; cortex of parenchymatous cells, the outer layers being more 
or less thick-walled; endodermis of thin-walled cells showing Cas- 
paryan spots on the radial walls; pericambium of a single layer; 
stele in lateral roots diarch, having 2 isolated rays of hadrome, and 
in thicker roots pentarch, having numerous tracheids and thick- 
walled libriform. 

Stems resemble the rhizome, but are characterized by the pres- 
ence of long, uniseriate, non-glandular hairs, and nearly sessile 
glandular hairs, the latter having a 4-celled summit. 



630 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 278. — Leptandra: A, rhizome showing the roots (R), buds (B), and the base 
of an aerial stem. B, transverse section of inner portion of a stolon. C, 
cortex: End, endodermis; L, & deep strand of phloem having small sieve 
groups and thin-walled parenchyma; Camb, cambium; H, primary tracheae 
bordering on the pith (P). C, transverse section of part of the stele of the 
main rhizome: H, the secondary hadrome, showing numerous, thick-walled 
wood fibers and a single trachea. D, transverse section of outer portion of 
a root: Ep, epidermal cells having thick outer walls; Ex, hypodermis; C, 
cortex. E, transverse section of a portion of the root-stele: C, cortex; 
End, endodermis; P, peri cambium; L, leptome; i/, hadrome. — After Holm, 
Merck's Report, 1913, p. 61. 



MULLEIN 631 

Powder. — Dark brown; fragments of parenchyma containing a 
light brown or brownish-black resin, the latter frequently closely 
coherent with the starch grains in the cells and preventing the 
separation of the individual grains; starch grains numerous, nearly 
spheroidal or more or less polygonal and from 0.002 to 0.008 mm. 
in diameter; tracheae having spiral thickenings, with simple or 
bordered pores; wood fibers having thick lignified porous walls, 
resembling tracheids; fragments containing a pigment which is 
colored pink or violet upon the addition of solutions of hydrated 
chloral; epidermal cells of the root having thick lamellated walls. 

Constituents. — An amorphous substance having an intensely 
bitter and nauseous taste, and yielding on hydrolysis a resinous 
material, and cinnamic and p-methoxycinnamic acids. Also a 
phytosterol which has been designated verosterol; a volatile oil; 
tannic acid; a sugar; a resin; d-mannitol, p-methoxycinnamic 
acid, and 3 : 4-dimethoxycinnamic acid. The last-mentioned acid 
had not previously been observed to occur in nature. — Power, Jour. 
Chem. Soc, 1910, p. 1944. 

Vekbasci Folia— Herba Verbasci, Common Mullein Leaves. — 
The leaves of Verbascum Thapsus (Fam. Scrophulariacese), a biennial 
herb naturalized from Europe and growing in fields and waste places 
in the eastern and central United States, often becoming a common 
weed. The leaves are gathered during summer, at the time of 
flowering of the plant, and carefully dried. 

Description. — Leaves, elliptical, ovate, short petiolate, from 6 to 
30 cm. in length and 2.5 to 10 cm. in breadth; summit acute or 
rounded, margin dentate, base decurrent, narrowed into the petiole; 
pale grayish-green and densely, wooly-hairy throughout ; very thick, 
rather tough; inodorous; taste mucilaginous and slightly bitter. 

Inner Structure. — Especially characteristic are the branched 
multicellular candelabra hairs, which consist of an upright, uniseriate 
main axis, from which whorls of from 2 to 8 ray-cells arise at certain 
points, the individual cells being from 0.150 to 0.400 mm. in length 
and contain not infrequently one or more air-bubbles; glandular 
hairs 2-celled, consisting of a stalk, from 0.030 to 0.065 mm. in 
length and having a nearly spheroidal secreting cell at the summit; 
epidermal cells strongly undulate, stomata broadly elliptica , about 
0.030 mm. in length and having 3 to 5 neighboring cells. 

Constituents. — The drug contains an amorphous bitter principle; 
mucilage; a trace of a volatile oil; and from 1 to 2 per cent of resin, 
part of which is soluble in ether. 

Literature. — Holm, Merck's Report, 1914, p. 4. 



632 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Verbasci Flores. — Mullein Flowers. — The flowers of Verbas- 
cum phlomoides and V. thapsiforme (Fam. Scrophulariaceae), biennial 
herbs indigenous to central and southern Europe and western Asia, 
the former being naturalized to some extent from New England to 
Kentucky, and resembling V. Thapsus, but the leaves are nearly 
sessile and only slightly decurrent. The corollas, with the adhering 
stamens, are gathered, during dry weather in July or August and 
carefully dried. 

Description. — Corallas zygomorphic, either rotate and about 
2 cm. in breadth (V. thapsiforme), or somewhat funnel-shaped and 
about 1.5 cm. in breadth (V. phlomoides); golden yellow when fresh, 
becoming yellowish-brown on drying; dorsal surface pubescent, the 
lobes being ovate, the 2 upper being smaller than the 3 lower; stamens 
inserted on the corolla, unequal, the 2 upper being longer and glabrous, 
while the 3 lower are smaller, the filaments being very pubescent; 
odor distinct, sweet; taste mucilaginous and sweet. 

Inner Structure. — Lower surface having numerous stellate or 
branching multicellular hairs, and glandular hairs of several types: 
(a), having a 1- or more-celled stalk and a 1- or 2-celled glandular 
head; and (6), glandular hairs resembling the Labiatse; epidermal 
cells polygonal, the walls more or less undulate, in the lumina are 
numerous small yellowish chromoplastids; mucilage cells are dis- 
tributed among the loose mesophyll; the hairs of the filaments of 
the short stamens are long, somewhat club-shaped, having a rounded 
summit, thin walls and frequently contain sphero aggregates of hes- 
periden. (Consult Kraemer's Applied and Economic Botany, p. 153.) 
Pollen grains, spheroidal, about 0.030 mm. in diameter, frequently 
having a light red oily content, the outer walls being smooth and 
marked by 3 pores. 

Constituents. — Invert sugar, 10.4 per cent; mucilage; volatile 
oil; a glucosidal coloring principle ; cane sugar; and 5 to 6 per cent of 
ash. 

Literature. — Vogl, Pharmakognosie, p. 128. 

RUBIACEjE, OR MADDER FAMILY 

A large family of about 5500 species, most abundant in tropical 
regions but having representatives in nearly all parts of the world. 
They vary from herbs to trees; the leaves are usually opposite, stip- 
ulate and possess entire margins ; the flowers are perfect, the corollas 
being gamopetalous and of a variety of forms; and the fruit is a cap- 
sule, berry, or drupe. Among the anatomical features the following 



CINCHONA 633 

are the more prominent. The secretory elements are of a number of 
forms: (a), glandular hairs, consisting of several rows of cells, may 
occur on the stipules; (6), the epidermal cells occasionally contain a 
resinous secretion: (c), cells containing resin are sometimes present in 
the mesophyll ; (d) , secretory cells containing a brownish content are 
found in the leaves of a number of genera and are probably widely 
distributed; (e), elongated secretory sacs have been observed in 
Cinchona, Cascarilla, and other genera; and finally (/), a group of 
secretory cells tending to form internal glands. The fibrovascular 
bundles are collateral; the walls of the tracheae have either simple 
pores or scalarif orm perforations ; and the wood fibers usually possess 
bordered pores, occasionally simple pores.. Calcium oxalate is 
secreted in a great many different forms, including rosette aggre- 
gates, sphenoidal microcrystals, small acicular crystals, raphides and 
styloids, occasionally in the form of large rhombohedra, or crystal 
fibers. The subsidiary cells of the stomata are arranged parallel to 
the pores. Non-glandular hairs are either unicellular or uniseriate. 
External glandular hairs are wanting. 

Cinchona. — Cinchona Bark. — The dried bark of the stem and 
branches of various species of Cinchona (Fam. Rubiaceae), trees 
indigenous to South America, and cultivated in the East Indies, 
Jamaica, Mexico and the Portuguese possessions in northwest Africa 
and from which countries the commercial supplies are obtained. 
There are two principal commercial varieties : (1) Red Cinchona, 
which is yielded by Cinchona succirubra, and its varieties, trees 
indigenous to southern Ecuador and northern Peru ; and (2) Calisava 
Bark or yellow Cinchona, yielded by Cinchona Calisaya and its 
varieties, trees indigenous to Peru and Bolivia, and also obtained 
from C. Ledgeriana, a tree indigenous to Bolivia and cultivated in 
Java and the British Indies. When the trees are from 6 to 9 years 
old they possess the maximum amount of alkaloids and the bark of 
the trunk as well as the roots is removed and allowed to dry. The 
bark of the stem is used in the manufacture of galenicals, while the 
root bark is employed for the extraction of the alkaloids, especially 
quinine. Owing to the fact that light influences the production of 
quinine in the plant, it was formerly customary to cover the bark of 
the trunk with moss or other materials, and this is known as " mossed 
bark." For a time the cultivators followed the practice of removing 
the bark in alternate strips from the trunk, the denuded places being 
again covered, after which another layer of bark developed, very 
rich in alkaloids and known as " renewed bark." The outer bark, 
consisting of the periderm layer and some of the cortex, is flattened 



634 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

out and allowed to dry under pressure, and constitutes the " flat " 
(or Tambla) bark (Fig. 279). The older methods of cultivation have 
been entirely replaced by the selection of seeds from those plants 
that run high in alkaloids. The yield and quality of alkaloids in the 
bark are also improved by hybridizing the best trees irrespective of 
their species. For instance, much of the best Calisaya bark is Ob- 
tained from Cinchona Ledgeriana Calisaya. 




Fig. 279. — Commercial cinchona barks: 1, 2, 3, yellow cinchona having trans- 
verse fissures; 4, 5, red cinchona, the former showing longitudinal furrows; 
6, 7, Loxa bark (Cinchona pallida); 8, flat bark (Cinchona calisaya). About 
i actual size. 



About 80 per cent of the Cinchona bark of commerce is now 
obtained from trees cultivated in Java. It is estimated that about 
6,000,000 K. of Cinchona bark are annually exported from this 
Island alone. India furnishes about 1,000,000 K. annually and 
about 1,000,000 K. are produced by the remaining countries, Ceylon, 
Africa and South America. 

Red Cinchona. — Usually in double quills or rolled pieces which 
are cut into lengths from 25 to 40 cm. in length, 15 to 20 mm. in 
diameter, bark 2 to 5 mm. in thickness; outer surface reddish or dark 



CINCHONA 635 

brown, with grayish patches of foliaceous lichens, longitudinally 
wrinkled, with few usually widely separated transverse fissures; 
inner surface reddish-brown, distinctly striate; fracture smooth in 




Fig. 280. — Typical specimens of Cinchona succiruba from Java. From a photo- 
graph by Powers-Weightman-Rosengarten Co., Philadelphia. 

periderm, in inner bark with projecting bast fibers; odor distinct; 
taste bitter, astringent. 

Inner Structure. — See Figs. 280 and 281. 



636 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Powder.— (Fig. 282.) Light brown; bast fibers spindle-shaped, 
yellowish, 0.030 to 1.350 mm. in length, with thick, strongly lignified, 
lamellated walls having slit-like, oblique pores; sphenoidal micro- 
crystals of calcium oxalate numerous; parenchymatous cells with 



B 





Fig. 281. — A, transverse section of red cinchona; K, cork; Ca, sphenoidal micro- 
crystals of calcium oxalate; P, parenchyma containing starch: L, secretory 
sacs containing gum, resin and tannin; MR, medullary rays; BF, bast 
fibers; S, sieve. B, longitudinal section of same showing two porous bast 
fibers surrounded by parenchyma cells. 



reddish-brown tannin masses; starch grains relatively few, either 
single or 2- to 5-compound, the individual grains from 0.003 to 0.0 10 
mm. in diameter. 

The following test is distinctive for red Cinchona. If 1 gm. 



CINCHONA 



637 



of powdered Cinchona is heated in a test tube, a tarry distillate is 
formed having a bright red color. 

Calisaya Bark. — Gray or brownish-gray, with numerous patches 
of foliaceous lichens, having brownish-black and reddish-brown 
apothecia, and numerous transverse fissures, which give the bark a 
very characteristic appearance. 

The trunk bark is comparatively thick, while renewed bark is 
comparatively smooth and uniform in color. 

Inner Structure. — (Fig. 280.) 

Powder. — (Fig. 282.) Reddish-brown; the tissues and cell 
contents resemble those of red Cinchona; the starch grains are 




Fig. 282. — Cinchona: B, bast fibers; Ca, sphenoidal microcrystals of calcium 
oxalate; P, parenchyma containing few small spheroidal starch grains; E, 
sieve; K, cork. 



relatively more numerous and larger, occurring in spheroidal, plano- 
convex and polygonal grains, from 0.003 to 0.015 mm. in diameter, 
also in 2- to 5-compound grains. 

The following test is distinctive for yellow Cinchona. If 1 gm. 
of powdered calisaya bark is heated in a test tube, a tarry distillate 
is formed having a purplish-red color and a somewhat granular 
appearance. 

A qualitative test having some quantitative value in determining 
the strength of powdered Cinchona is as follows : 0.500 gm. of pow- 



638 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



dered Cinchona (containing 7 per cent of total alkaloids, of which 
3 per cent is quinine) is mixed with 500 c.c. of water and shaken 
occasionally in the course of several hours with 500 c.c. of water; 
10 c.c. of this solution are then diluted with 50 c.c. of water, a few 
cubic centimeters of this solution, when swallowed, still give the 
characteristic taste of the alkaloids of Cinchona. One c.c. of this 
solution contains 0.000005 gramme of quinine, or about 0.000011 
gramme of total alkaloids. 

The following test is rather expeditious in obtaining an approx- 
imate idea of the quantitative value of the drug. One gm. of pow- 




Fig. 283. — Quinine sulphate: Long orthorhombic needles from a dilute alcoholic 

solution. 



dered Cinchona (containing 7 per cent of total alkaloids, of which 3 
per cent is quinine) is macerated over night with 10 c.c. of a modified 
Prollius solution. The solution is filtered into a small separating 
funnel and 5 c.c. of a dilute sulphuric acid (0.5 per cent) solution are 
added. After agitation and allowing to stand until the two liquids 
separate, the aqueous solution containing the alkaloids is separated. 
This solution, which is slightly fluorescent, is rendered neutral with 
dilute ammonia water, and one drop contains about 0.00015 gramme 
of quinine. (1) One drop of this solution is mixed with nine drops 
of water, and upon the addition of a drop of bromine water followed 
by an excess of ammonia water the thalleioquin reaction readily takes 



CINCHONA 



639 



place. (2) If one drop of the neutral solution be mixed with four drops 
of water and a drop of bromine water, followed by a drop of a solution 
of ferrocyanide of potassium, and then an excess of ammonia water, a 
red coloration is immediately produced, which disappears shortly. 

Constituents. — The alkaloids are chiefly formed in the paren- 
chyma cells of the middle layers of the bark. Cinchona contains 
a large number of alkaloids, of which the most important are quinine, 
quinidine, cinchonine and cinchonidine. The total alkaloids amount 
to about 6 or 7 per cent, of which from one-half to two-thirds is qui- 













v^m 






^Utt 




jjjhT 


^r 




r^^ 














■': f *m 






^B 1 


Li 






% B 


_ - ;^ J 






W A 


k. * thI 






-.< 






^H 








1 









Fig. 284. — Cinchonine sulphate: Orthorhombic crystals from a saturated aqueous 

solution. 



nine in the yellow barks, whereas, in the red barks, cinchonidine 
exists in greater proportion. Quinine occurs in small crystals 
which are sparingly soluble in water, soluble in alcohol and readily 
form crystallizable salts with acids. On the successive addition of 
dilute sulphuric acid, bromine or chlorine water and ammonia water, 
the solution becomes of an emerald-green color (thalleioquin test). 
Quinidine, an isomer of quinine, crystallizes in rhombohedra or 
monoclinic prisms which are nearly insoluble in water and otherwise 
conforms to the characteristics given for quinine. The solutions of 
quinidine are, however, dextrorotatory, while those of quinine are 



640 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

laevorotatory. Cinchonine separate sin lustrous prisms or needle 5 
which are nearly insoluble in water, and does not give the thalleio- 
quin test, but forms a white precipitate upon the addition of dilute 
sulphuric acid, bromine water and ammonia. Cinchonidine crys- 
tallizes in prisms and resembles cinchonine in many of its properties. 
Its solutions, however, are laevorotatory, while those of cinchonine 
are dextrorotatory. 

The other important alkaloids of Cinchona which have been 
separated are: Quinamine, hydroquinine, hydroquinidine, hydro- 
cinchonidine and homocinchonidine. Of the other alkaloids which 
have been isolated the following may be mentioned : Conquinamine, 
paranine, paracine and quinamidine. Among the other constituents 
of Cinchona are: Kinic acid from 5 to 9 per cent, which forms color- 
less rhombic prisms and yields a sublimate consisting of golden crys- 
tals of kinone (quinone) on treatment with manganese peroxide and 
sulphuric acid; kinovin (quinovin) an amorphous, bitter glucoside, 
to the amount of 0.11 to 1.74 per cent; cinchotannic acid from 2 to 4 
per cent, which decomposes into the nearly insoluble cinchona red, 
occurring in red barks to the extent of 10 per cent; considerable 
starch; calcium oxalate in the form of sphenoidal microcrystals ; 
and ash about 3 per cent. The red color in cinchona bark is due to 
an oxydase similar to that which causes the darkening of fruits when 
cut. If the fresh bark is heated in boiling water for 30 minutes and 
then dried it does not become red. 

Quinine Sulphate [(CsoK^NsOs^.HsSC^+THsO]. 

The alkaloid quinine (C20H24N2O2) is the methoxy-derivative 
of cinchonine and separates in anhydrous crystals from hot aqueous 
solutions. If the hot solution, in dilute alcohol, is kept for some time 
at 30° C, then on cooling long silky needles form. There is another 
modification, occurring as a flaky powder and containing three 
molecules of water of crystallization (C20H24N2O2+3H2O), which is 
official. Some authors consider, however, that there is only one 
molecule of water of crystallization in this hydrous salt. 1 The 
hydrous salt has a M. P. of 57° while the anhydrous crystals melt at 
175°. Quinine is a strong base, forming, with acids, basic and neutral 
salts. The neutral sulphate is largely used and is here considered. 

There are several modifications of quinine sulphate: (1) The 
neutral sulphate containing eight molecules of water of crystalliza- 
tion [(C2oH24N202)2.H 2 S04+8H 2 0], is obtained upon neutralizing 
the base with sulphuric acid and crystallizing from hot water. (2) 
Upon exposing the former over sulphuric acid it loses six molecules 
1 0. A. Oesterle, Grundriss der Pharmakochemie. 



IPECAC 641 

of water of crystallization giving [(C 2 oH24N 2 02)2.H2S04+2H20]. 
This same salt is formed upon re-crystallizing (1) from hot alcoholic 
solutions. (3) The acid sulphate or bisulphate contains seven mole- 
cules of water of crystallization (C20H24N2O2.H2SO4+7H2O), is also 

official, and has been described. 1 (4) There is also a tetrasulphate of 
quinine having the formula (C20H20X2O2.2H2SO4+7H2O). 2 

At 25° C. one part of quinine sulphate (containing 8H2O) is 
soluble in 720 parts of water; 86 parts of alcohol; 400 parts of 
chloroform. It is readily soluble in a mixture of chloroform (2 
parts) and absolute alcohol (1 part); and one part is soluble in 36 
parts of glycerin at 25° C. It is only sparingly soluble in ether. When 
crystallized from a dilute alcoholic solution, upon a microscopical 
slide, the individual needles may attain a length of 4 mm. (Fig. 226). 

Allied Plants. — Loxa or Huanco (Cinchona pallida) bark is 
obtained from Cinchona officinalis, a shrub indigenous to Ecua- 
dor, which was the species first discovered. The plant is cultivated 
in nearly all the large cinchona plantations and yields a bark (Fig. 
279) that contains 1 to 4 per cent of total alkaloids, from one-half to 
two-thirds of which is quinine. 

Cuprea Bark is obtained from Remijia Purdieana and R. pedun- 
culata, of central and southern Colombia. It has a copper-red color, 
is hard, compact and heavy, contains numerous transversely elongated 
stone cells and 2 to 6 per cent of alkaloids, of which one-third may be 
quinine. Cinchonidine has never been isolated from this bark. 
Cuprea bark also contains caffeate of quinine and caffeic acid, of 
which there is about 0.5 per cent and which closely resembles the 
same acid obtained from caffeotannic acid in coffee. 

Literature. — Howard, Bull. Imperial Inst., 1918, 16, Pt. 3. 

Ipecacuanha. — Ipecac. — The dried root of Cephaelis Ipecacu- 
anha [Uragoga Ipecacuanha (Fani. Rubiacese)], a shrub indigenous 
to Brazil, and sparingly cultivated near Singapore. The commercial 
supply is obtained from Matt a Grosso, Brazil, and is known as Rio, 
Brazilian or Para Ipecac. The roots are gathered during the dry 
season and dried as quickly as possible, being placed in the sun during 
the day and covered at night, so that in the course of 2 or 3 days 
they are ready for market. 

The roots of Cephaelis acuminata, a plant closely related to 
Cephaelis Ipecacuanha and indigenous to the northern and central 
portion of the United States of Colombia, are exported from Car- 

l Th. Hjortdahl, Zeitsch. f. Krystallog., 1879, p. 303; see also- Hahn, Arch. 
d. Pharm., 1859, p. 148. 

2 Briihl, Die Pflanzen-Alkaloide, p. 182. 



642 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

tagena and Savanilla, and are known commercially as Cartagena 
Ipecac. Two commercial sub-varieties of Ipecac are also recognized, 
depending upon the proportion of wood and bark in the drug. Speci- 
cimens in which the wood is more pronounced are known as " wiry 
roots/' while those which are characterized by a thicker bark are 
called " fancy " or " Bold " roots. 

Rio or Brazilian Ipecac. — Cylindrical, more or less tortuous, 5 to 
15 cm. in length, 1 to 5 mm. in diameter; externally dark brown, 
irregularly annulate, sometimes transversely fissured, having occa- 
sional rootlets or rootlet-scars; fracture of bark brittle, of the wood 
tough; internally, bark light brown, 0.5 to 1 mm. in thickness, easily 
separable from the dark-yellow, non-porous wood ; odor slight ; taste 
bitter, acrid. 

Stems cylindrical, attaining a length of 10 cm. and a thickness 
of 2 mm., dark brown, finely longitudinally wrinkled and having 
a few elliptical scars. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 285. 

Powder. — (Fig. 286.) Light brown, or dark yellow; starch 
grains numerous, 2- to 6-compound, the individual grains spheroidal 
or polyhedral, from 0.003 to 0.017 mm. in diameter; calcium oxalate 
in raphides from 0.015 to 0.040 mm. in length; tracheids having 
either bordered pores or oblique slit-like pores. The stem bark shows 
a few, slightly elongated stone cells, from 0.030 to 0.045 mm. in length, 
having thick lignified walls and simple, branching pores. 

An aqueous infusion of ipecac gives a copious precipitate with 
potassio-mercuric iodide solution; a hydro-alcoholic infusion gives 
a yellow precipitate with picric acid, or if hydrochloric acid and 
potassium chlorate are added, the solution becomes orange-red with a 
reddish fluorescence. 

Cartagena Ipecac closely resembles the Rio or Brazilian ipecac, 
but the roots are uniformly thicker (4 to 7 mm. in diameter), of a 
brownish-gray color, and the annulations are less pronounced. 

The stems are usually more slender, 5 to 10 cm. in length, 1 to 
1.5 mm. in diameter, nearly smooth or longitudinally wrinkled; 
bark 0.1 mm. in thickness, with bast fibers either single or in groups; 
pith distinct, 0.5 mm. in diameter. 

In the powder of Cartagena Ipecac the starch grains are uni- 
formly larger, being from 0.004 to 0.015 mm. in diameter, other- 
wise the tissues and cell contents resemble those of Rio Ipecac. 

Constituents. — Ipecac contains three alkaloids (2 to 3 per cent) — 
emetine, cephaeline and psychotrine, that are said to be contained 
chiefly in the bark, which makes up about 90 per cent of the drug. 



IPECAC 



643 




Fig. 285. — Ipecac: A, transverse section of Rio ipecac showing outer layers of 
cork (a); cork cells (6); phellogen (m); parenchyma containing starch (p); 
raphides (x); cambium (c); tracheids (t). B, longitudinal section of a 
portion of the wood showing tracheal-like tracheids (a); tracheids with 
bordered pores (6), linear pores (c) and oblique linear pores (d); transition 
tracheids (e); tracheids with delicate pores (/). C, starch grains of Rio 
ipecac. D, slightly larger starch grains of Cartagena ipecac. — After Schneider. 



644 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Emetine (methyl-cephaeline) is white, amorphous, forms crys- 
talline salts, becomes darker on exposure to light, and with Froehde's 
alkaloidal reagent (consisting of 0.01 gm. of sodium molybdate in 
1 c.c. of concentrated sulphuric acid) becomes dirty green, changing 
to a bright green on the addition of hydrochloric acid. Cephaeline 
occurs in silky needles, forms amorphous salts and is quite unstable, 
becoming yellow even in the dark. With Froehde's reagent, ceph- 
aeline changes to purple, becoming deep blue on the addition of hydro- 




Fiq. 286. — Rio ipecac: T, tracheids; P, parenchyma containing starch; S, 
starch grains; Ca, raphides of calcium oxalate. 



chloric acid. Psychotrine is amorphous, quite unstable, and becomes 
purplish with Froehde's reagent, changing to green on the addition 
of hydrochloric acid. Ipecac also contains 2.25 per cent of ipe- 
cacuanhic acid, with which the alkaloids are combined; a glucoside 
resembling saponin ; about 40 per cent of starch ; and calcium oxalate 
in the form of raphides. 

The total amount of alkaloids in Rio and Cartagena ipecac not 

only varies, but there is a difference in the proportions of emetine 

the expectorant alkaloid) and cephaeline (the emetic alkaloid); in 

Rio ipecac the proportion is one-third cephaeline to two-thirds erne- 



IPECAC 645 

tine, while in Cartagena ipecac there are four-fifths eephaeline to one- 
fifth emetine. 

Allied Plants. — A number of drugs, some of which resemble ipecac, 
sometimes find their way into commerce, and, while they all possess 
emetic properties, none of them contain emetine. The following 
drugs obtained from plants of the Rubiacea? have been substituted for 
Ipecac. Undulated (or Farinaceous) Ipecac from Ricnardsonia 
scabra, a plant growing in tropical and sub-tropical America, is an 
undulate, annulate root, the bark of which is nearly as thick as the 
yellowish, soft wood. Striated ipecac from Cephaelis emetica, a 
plant growing in South America, is a dark purplish-brown root, with 
a few transverse fissures and a thick bark in which starch is absent. 
Several members of the Rosacea? contain emetic principles and the 
roots of the following plants growing in the United States have been 
substituted for Ipecac: American Ipecac [Gillenia (Porteranthus) 
stipulata]: the root is annulate, and somewhat resembles ipecac, but 
has a thinner bark with numerous resin cells; and Indian Physic 
(G. trifoliata), the roots of which resemble those of American Ipecac 
but are not annulace. 

The roots of several of the plants of the Euphorbiacese are used 
as emetics. Ipecac spurge is the root of Euphorbia Ipecacuanha, a 
plant common in sandy soil of the eastern United States. The roots 
are 30 cm. or more in length, about 1 cm. in thickness, nearly cylin- 
drical, light brown; internally the wood is yellow and the bark white, 
having numerous laticiferous vessels. The taste is sweet, somewhat 
acrid and bitter. Ipecac spurge contains crystalline resin, euphor- 
bon; probably a glucoside, and starch. Pinging or Emetic root is 
obtained from the large flowering spurge (Euphorbia corollata), a 
plant found in sandy soil east of the Mississippi. The root resembles 
the Ipecac spurge but is dark brown or brownish-black externally, 
and the constituents are similar (p. 398). 

The following emetic drugs are obtained from plants belonging to 
the Violacese: Ionidiiun, or the so-called White Ipecac, is obtained 
from the root of Hybanthus Ipecacuanha of Brazil. It is easily 
distinguished from ipecac by being somewhat branched, larger and 
having a thin bark. An emetic principle is also present in the roots 
of other species of Hybanthus, the root of Anchieta salutaris of Brazil, 
and possibly also in the rhizome of Viola odorata. 

A few emetic drugs are also obtained from plants belonging to 
the Meliaceae. The alkaloid naregamine is found in the Goanese 
Ipecac derived from Xaregamia alata of the East Indies. The alka- 
loid rusbyine is found in the bark of Cocillana (Guarea Rusbyi) of 



646 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Bolivia, a drug (see p. 383) having properties similar to those of 
Ipecac. The roots of several of the Polygalas (Fam. Polygalacese) 
possess emetic properties, viz. : P. scoparia of Mexico and P. angulata 
of Brazil (see p. 389). The root of the latter plant, which is also 
known as White Ipecac (Poaya blanca) resembles senega, is free 
from starch and contains considerable saponin. 

Substitutes of Ipecac. — The root of Richardsonia scabra has 
simple and compound starch grains from 0.020 to 0.040 mm. in diam- 
eter; the root of Triosteum perfoliatum and the bark of Naregamia 
alata contain starch grains and rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate, 
the latter containing in addition orange-red secretion cells; the root 
of Heteropteris pauciflora (Fam. Malpighiacea?) is free from starch, 
but contains rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate, brown pigment 
cells and stone cells. 

Literature. — Schneider, Jour, of Pharmacology, 1897, p. 1; Paul 
and Cownley, Amer. Jour. Phar., 1901, pp. 57 and 107; Zornig, 
Arzneidrogen. 

Semen Coffe.e. — Coffee Seed or Coffee Bean. — The ripe seeds 
of Coffea arabica (Fam. Rubiacese), a small evergreen tree or shrub 
with lanceolate, acuminate, entire, slightly coriaceous, dark green, 
short-petiolate leaves, which are partly united with the short inter- 
petiolar stipules at the base. The flowers are white, fragrant, and 
occur in axillary clusters. The fruit is a small, spheroidal or ellip- 
soidal drupe with two locules, each containing one seed, or coffee 
bean. The coffee plant is indigenous to Abyssinia and other parts 
of eastern Africa, and is widely cultivated in tropical countries, 
notably in Java, Sumatra, Ceylon, and Central and South America, 
particularly Brazil, over 600,000 tons being produced annually in 
the latter country. The yield of one tree is between 0.5 and 5 K. 
There are two methods of freeing the seeds from the parchment-like 
endocarp: (a), the fruits are allowed to dry and are then broken; in 
(6), which is known as the wet method, the sarcocarp is removed by 
means of a machine, and the two seeds with the parchment-like 
endocarp are allowed to dry in such a manner as to undergo a fer- 
mentation, and after drying the endocarp is removed. The green 
seeds are sent into commerce and roasted. This process causes the 
seeds to swell, changes their color to dark brown, and develops the 
characteristic odor and flavor due to the formation of caffeol and 
other substances. 

Description. — Elliptical, plano-convex, about 10 mm. in length 
and 8 mm. in width; externally dark brown, smooth, having on the 
flattened side a longitudinal or somewhat curved cleft, due to the 



COFFEE 647 

folding of the endosperm, and in which is contained the parchment- 
like seed-coat; hard, easily broken, and containing at the basal por- 
tion of the endosperm, a small embryo; odor distinct, aromatic; 
taste pleasantly bitter. 

Inner Structure. — Seed-coat fragmentary on the surface of the 
seeds, and parchment -like in the groove and characterized by the 
presence of numerous stone cells, occurring singly or in small groups, 
from 0.100 to 1 mm. in length and 0.015 to 0.050 mm. in breadth, 
the cells varying in size and in form, and possessing relatively thick, 
porous and strongly lignified walls; endosperm large, composed of 
irregularly thickened, porous cellulose walls, and containing sugar, 
tannic acid, a fixed oil, caffeine and occasionally aleurone grains; 
embryo small and usually bursts through the endosperm, on soaking 
the green seeds overnight. 

Powder. — Dark brown; characteristic fragments of seed-coat 
made up of parenchyma and spindle-shaped stone cells, from 0.2 to 
1 mm. in length and from 0.015 to 0.050 in width, the latter occurring 
singly or in pans, having more or less thickened porous walls. The 
cells of the endosperm have brownish-colored, porous walls, about 
0.010 mm. in thickness, and contain oil, aleurone and starch. Ground 
coffee varies in the fineness of the particles, which are fighter than 
water and float on the surface. This is an important distinction 
between genuine coffee and the " substitutes " or " imitation " 
products which sink on being mixed with water. 

Constituents. — Coffee seeds contain from 1 to 2 per cent of caf- 
feine; from 3 to 5 per cent of tannin; about 15 per cent of glucose 
and dextrin ; 10 to 13 per cent of a fatty oil consisting chiefly of olein 
and palmitin; 10 to 13 per cent of proteins; and yield 4 to 7 per cent 
of ash. The official caffeine is derived in part from coffee seeds. For 
description, tests and methods of detecting caffeine, see p. 436. 

In the roasting of coffee there is a change in the physical character 
of the seeds, as well as a change in some of the constituents The 
aroma is supposed to be due to an oil known as coffeol, which is said 
to be a methyl ether of saligenin. 

Coffee increases in weight in storage. In paper bags and cartons, 
the maximum increase in weight is reached in the fall months. 
During the winter months there is a loss in weight, while during the 
spring and summer there is little change. (Doolittle and Wright, 
Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1915, p. 524.) 

Coffee Hulls, also known as Sultan or Sacca coffee, are sometimes 
si bstituted for coffee. These consist of the outer layer of the peri- 
carp and are characterized by a layer of somewhat curved, elongated 



648 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

cells which lie close to one another (palisade cells), and the walls of 
which are mucilaginous and stained by safranin and methylene blue, 
the yellowish protoplasmic contents not being affected. 

Carob Bean [Ceratonia Siliqua (Fam. Leguminosse)] in a ground 
condition is not only used as cattle food, but has been substituted 
for coffee. It is distinguished by the sclerenchymatous and crystal 
fibers, and the cells of the mesocarp, which contain reddish-brown, 
spiral masses that are colored a deep violet or blue on heating with 
solutions of the alkalies. 

Coffee Substitutes. — The following are commonly employed: 
Chicory; 'a number of the cereals and cereal products (Fig. 21). 
Among leguminous seeds: soja beans (p. 346), lupines, peas, beans 
and the seeds of Cassia fcetida. In addition, under the name of 
Mogdad Coffee, the seeds of Cassia occidentalis are used in various 
tropical countries. The seeds are free from starch and the cells of 
the endosperm are thick-walled and .contain a brown protein sub- 
stance. 

Of Coffee adulterants the following may be mentioned: Ground 
ivory nut (Phytelephas macrocarpa), which is distinguished by the 
thick-walled cells of the endosperm; and the ground kernels of the 
acorns of several species of Quercus, which are readily identified by 
the elongated, more or less swollen, distorted starch grains which 
have a prominent, elongated cleft in the middle (Fig. 72). 

Literature. — Griebel, Bot. Abstracts, 1919, 1, p. 219. 

CAPRIFOLIACEjE, OR HONEYSUCKLE FAMILY 

A small family of plants, mostly indigenous to the northern 
hemispheres, and of a great diversity of forms, as regards habit, 
leaves, flowers and fruits. The cork is usually superficial, except in 
Sambucus and Viburnum, where it is formed inside the bast fibers. 
Secondary bast fibers are developed in nearly all of the genera, 
excepting Viburnum (consult Figs. 287 and 288). The tracheae 
usually possess scalariform perforations; the wood fibers have bor- 
dered pores; and the medullary rays are mostly narrow. Internal 
secretory organs are wanting, except in Sambucus, where tannin 
secretory cells occur. The non-glandular hairs are unicellular stel- 
late, peltate or tufted. The glandular hairs are of 2 kinds: (a), 
having a uniseriate stalk and a spheroidal or ellipsoidal secreting 
summit, as in Lonicera, Sambucus, Triosteum and Viburnum; or 
(6), peltate having a unicellular stalk and shield of 3 to 7 cells as in 
Diervilla. 



VIBURNUM 649 

Viburnum Prunifolium. — Black Haw Bark. — The dried bark 
of the root of Viburnum prunifolium or of V. Lentago (Fam. Capri- 
foliacese), shrubs or small trees indigenous to the eastern and central 
United States. The root bark is more highly esteemed than that of 
the stem and branches. 

Stem Bark. — In transversely curved pieces, or irregular oblong 
chips, 1.5 to 6 cm. in length, 0.5 to 1.5 cm. in diameter, bark, 0.5 to 
1.5 mm. in thickness; outer surface brownish-red or grayish-brown, 
longitudinally wrinkled, periderm occasionally exfoliated, with occa- 
sional grayish patches of foliaceous lichens and numerous lenticels; 
inner surface yellowish- or reddish-brown, longitudinally striate; 
fracture short, periderm brownish-red, inner bark with numerous light 
yellow groups of stone cells; odor slight; taste astringent and bitter. 

Root Bark. — Somewhat resembling the stem bark, but smoother 
externally, without lichens and having fewer lenticels. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 287. ^ 

Powder. — Dark brown; calcium oxalate in rosette aggregates or 
occasionally in rhombohedra, from 0.015 to 0.035 mm. in diameter; 
crystal fibers usually having rosette aggregates and occasional mono- 
clinic prisms of calcium oxalate; stone cells large, irregular, thick- 
walled and strongly lignified, bast fibers comparatively few, lignified. 

Constituents. — A bitter, somewhat resinous principle, viburnin; 
valerianic (viburnic) acid and other organic acids; resin; tannin; 
calcium oxalate; ash about 10 per cent. 

Adulterants. — The barks of one or more allied species, espe- 
cially Viburnum dentatum, are said sometimes to be substituted for 
the official bark. 

Viburnum Opulus. — Cramp Bark. — The dried bark of the stem 
and branches of Viburnum Opulus (Fam. Caprif oliaceae) , a shrub 
with nearly erect branches indigenous to the northern United States 
and southern Canada, and also found growing in Europe and Asia. 

Description. — In transversely curved pieces, occasionally in single 
quills, from 1 to 10 cm. in length and 5 to 10 mm. in width; bark 0.5 
to 1.5 mm. in thickness; outer surface light grayish- to blackish- 
brown; irregularly wrinkled, somewhat scaly, frequently with fine 
longitudinal and transverse fissures, and numerous prominent brown- 
ish lenticels; inner surface light yellowish or reddish-brown, finely 
longitudinally striate, fracture short, irregular; inner surface light 
brown, the middle bark marked by a light-yellow ring enclosing small 
groups of bast fibers; odor distinct, like valerianic acid; pleasantly 
bitter. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 288. 



650 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Powder. — Light grayish-brown; calcium oxalate in rosette 
aggregates from 0.010 to 0.040 mm. in diameter; starch grains from 
0.002 to 0.006 mm. in diameter, usually present in parenchyma and 
cells of medullary rays; fragments of parenchyma containing a 

A 




Fig. 287. — Viburnum Prunifolium: A, transverse section of a part of the bark: 
K, cork; C, cells of primary cortex; St, stone cells, which are distributed not 
only in the cortical area but in the strands of phloem between the medullary 
rays; Br, rifts between the parenchyma cells, which in the inner portion 
causes a layering of the bark; Ca, calcium oxalate usually occurring in the 
form of rosette aggregates; L, groups of sieve cells; P, parenchyma; M, a 
medullary ray. B, tangential section showing the bi-convex groups of 
medullary rays and surrounding tissues. C, fragments seen in the powdered 
drug, the letters as in A. — Drawing by Haase. 

yellowish-brown amorphous substance; primary bast fibers occa- 
sional, having thick more or less undulate walls, which are slightly 
lignified, the ends being somewhat obtuse; fragments of cork consist- 
ing of more or less rectangular cells, having thick, lignified walls. 



VIBURNUM 



651 




Fig. 288. — Viburnum Opulus: A, transverse section of the bark; K, cork; C, 
cells of the primary cortex; F, bast fibers; Br, separation of the cells, forming 
a layering in the bark; Ca, rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate; S, starch 
grains; P, parenchyma; L, small groups of sieve cells; M, medullary rays, 
showing starch grains in some of the cells. B, longitudinal section showing 
2 bast fibers and the surrounding parenchyma. C, tangential section showing 
the group of medullary rays (M). — Drawing by Haase. 



652 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Constituents. — The constituents resemble those of Viburnum 
prunifoliu'm. 

Adulterants. — The bark of Mountain Maple (Acer spicatum) has 
been substituted for Viburnum opulus. The former is distinguished 
(Fig. 176) by the numerous rhombohedra crystals of calcjum oxalate 
and large groups of bast fibers. 

Literature. — Viehoever, Ewing, Clevenger, Jour. A. Pha. A., 1918 
7, p. 944. 

Sambucus. — American or Sweet Elder Flowers. — The flowers oi 
Sambucus canadensis (Fam. Caprif oliacea?) , a shrub growing in rich 
or moist soil throughout the eastern and central United States. The 
plant has odd-pinnate leaves; small white flowers, which are borne 
in flat cymes; and deep purple or nearly black drupes. The latter 
are edible and sometimes used in making of a wine. The flowers are 
gathered in early summer during the dry and hot weather, carefully 
dried and preserved. 

Description. — Usually shriveled and crumb-like, from 1 to 2 mm. 
in diameter, light and dark yellowish-brown; calyx, ovoid having 5 
minute teeth; corolla, white when fresh, light brown on drying, urn- 
shaped and possessing 5 spreading lobes; stamens 5, inserted at the 
base of the corolla; ovary 3-locular, and containing an ovule in each 
loculus; odor aromatic; taste mucilaginous and slightly aromatic. 

Inner Structure. — Pollen grains numerous, spheroidal, about 
0.020 mm. in diameter, nearly smooth, and having 3 pores; calyx 
having broadly conical hairs, about 0.075 in length, the cuticle being 
distinctly striated. 

Constituents. — American elder flowers have not been investi- 
gated as to their chemical composition. It is very probable, however, 
that they contain principles similar to the European elder (Sam- 
bucus nigra). The latter contains a volatile oil, which at ordinary 
temperatures is a semi-solid mass, having a light yellow- or greenish- 
yellow color. It has the odor of elder blossoms, which becomes 
especially pronounced when considerably diluted. Elder flowers 
also contain mucilage; tannic acid; and yield not more than 8 per 
cent of ash. 

VALERIANACEiE, OR VALERIAN FAMILY 

A family of about 275 herbs, mostly indigenous to the northern 
hemispheres. The leaves are opposite ; the flowers are usually small, 
the ovary being inferior ; and the fruits are dry and indehiscent. The 
secretion cells have suberized walls, and contain a volatile oil. In 



VALERIAN 653 

the rhizome and roots of valerian the volatile oil is developed in the 
sub-epidermal layer. The walls of the tracheae and wood fibers are 
marked by simple pores, except in the primary xylem when the 
tracheae possess scalariform perforations. The non-glandular hairs 
are usually unicellular. The glandular hairs are small, having 
either a uni- or multicellular stalk, and a multicellular summit. 
Calcium oxalate is wanting. 

Valeriana. — Valerian. — The rhizome and roots of Valeriana 
officinalis (Fam. Valerianaceae), a perennial herb indigenous to 
Europe and Asia, and cultivated in Holland, Germany, England and 
the New England States, being more or less naturalized in this coun- 
try as far south as New York and New Jersey. The rhizome is col- 
lected in autumn, cut into longitudinal slices and dried by artificial 
heat. There are several commercial varieties, and it is said that some 
of the drug is derived from Valeriana sylvatica. 

Description. — Rhizome upright, slightly ellipsoidal, more or less 
truncate at both ends, from 2.5 to 4 cm. in length, and 1 to 2 cm. in 
diameter, usually cut longitudinally into two, four or more pieces; 
externally dark brown, the upper portion having circular stem- and 
leaf-scars, the sides sometimes with short branches or stolons from 
5 to 8 cm. in length, with numerous roots and few root-scars; frac- 
ture short, horny ; internally light brown ; odor pronounced, becoming 
stronger on keeping the drug; taste somewhat aromatic. 

Roots 3 to 10 cm. in length, 0.5 to 1 mm. in diameter, longitu- 
dinally wrinkled, and brittle. 

Inner Structure. — An epidermal layer of papillose cells, some 
being modified to root hairs ; a sub-epidermal layer containing suber- 
ized secretion cells and in which are usually numerous small globules 
of a volatile oil and occasionally small prismatic crystals; the cells 
of the cortical parenchyma are filled with starch, some of the cells 
near the hypodermis containing a few oily globules; an endodermis 
of thin-walled cells surrounding a pericambium; a central cylinder 
having 3 to 5 fibrovascular bundles; tracheae with simple and bor- 
dered pores. Older roots show a large pith of starch-bearing paren- 
chyma, a secondary thickening in the fibrovascular bundles and a 
periderm of a few layers of cells. Sections of the rhizome show a thin 
periderm, a cortical parenchyma having scattered fibrovascular 
bundles, a layer of altered cells of the endodermis, numerous more 
or less twisted, collateral, fibrovascular bundles and a large pith. 

Powder. — Light to dark brown; starch grains numerous, from 
0.003 to 0.020 mm. in diameter, spheroidal, plano-convex, polyhedral, 
2- to 4-compound and each usually with a central cleft; tracheae 



654 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

having simple and bordered pores or scalariform and reticulate 
thickenings, accompanied by narrow sclerenchymatous fibers, the 
walls of the latter being thin, porous, and strongly lignified; occa- 
sional fragments of epidermis with root hairs, and fragments of cork. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil 0.5 to 3 per cent, of which 9.5 per cent 
is bornyl valerate. It also contains bornyl formate, acetate and 
butyrate; borneol; pinene; camphene, and a sesquiterpene. The 
odor of valerian is due to the isovalerianic acid which is formed from 
the bornyl valerate by the action of an oxydase during the drying 
of the drug. The fresh drug contains 0.015 per cent of an alkaloid 
and also a glucoside and a resin, all three of which are physiologically 
active, the two former being unstable. The drug also contains free 
formic and acetic acids and malates; tannin; saccharose; and starch. 

Allied Plants. — Kesso root oil is obtained from Japanese Valerian 
(Valeriana angustifolia). The constituents are similar to those of 
the volatile oil in Valerian, but it contains in addition kessyl acetate 
and kessyl alcohol. Mexican Valerian, derived from V. mexicana, 
yields an oil containing about 89 per cent of isovalerianic acid. 
Indian valerian is as valuable as English-grown valerian and more 
agreeable to the taste. The Japanese valerian has an unpleasant 
flavor and gives a different taste to the tincture. 

The small rhizomes of Valeriana celtica, a plant growing in the 
Styrian Alps, yield a volatile oil with an odor resembling that of 
Anthemis and patchouly. 

Adulterants and Substitutes. — The most dangerous admixture 
that has been reported is Veratrum, which is readily distinguished 
(Figs. 30 and 31). Cypripedium macranthum (Fam. Orchidacese), 
of Germany (Figs. 60 and 61), has been used as a substitute for 
valerian. 

CUCURBITACE.E, OR PUMPKIN FAMILY 

A family of 650 species of mostly tropical, more or less prostrate 
or climbing vines. The leaves are usually palmately lobed; the 
stamens are more or less united either by their filaments or tortuous 
anthers, and the fruits are fleshy and indehiscent. The fibrovascular 
bundles are bi-collateral and always separated by broad strands of 
parenchyma. In the herbaceous stems there is always a closed ring 
of sclerenchyma in the cortex and the fibrovascular bundles are 
arranged in 2 interrupted circles. In the fleshy perennial roots and 
shrub-like stems, showing a secondary growth, broad medullary 
rays are developed. Furthermore there may also occur from 5 to 7 



COLOCYNTH 655 

concentric rings of bundles, the sclerenchyma of the cortex being 
reduced to isolated groups of sclerenchymatous fibers. The leptome 
is developed in other parts of the plant than in the fibrovascular 
bundles. The tracheae are wide and the walls possess simple pores. 
The non-glandular hairs are unicellular or uniseriate and the cuticle 
is sometimes spinose, as the hairs on the leaves of Bryonia, Cucumis, 
Cucurbita and Ecballium. The glandular hairs have a short uni- 
seriate stalk and a 4-celled summit. Cystolith and cystolith-like 
structures are of common occurrence in a number of genera. Calcium 
oxalate is occasionally secreted in the form of solitary crystals. 

Colocynthis. — Bitter Apple. — The fruit of Citrullus Colocynthis 
(Fam. Cucurbitaceae) , a perennial herbaceous vine, indigenous to 
warm, dry regions of Africa and Asia, and cultivated in the north- 
western provinces of India and the countries bordering the Medi- 
terranean. The fruit is collected in autumn when ripe, and after 
removal of the epicarp by paring, is quickly dried in the sun or by 
artificial means. The commercial supplies are obtained from Turkey 
and Spain, the finer grade coming from Turkey. Attempts have been 
made to grow Colocynth in England and in New Mexico. The fruits 
are much larger than the official, and while very bitter appear to be 
less active than the fruits obtained from wild plants. The seeds 
should be removed from the pulp before it is used. 

Description. — Berry nearly globular, 6 to 7 cm. in diameter 
(Fig. 289); light; externally yellowish-white; internally, with three 
longitudinal, somewhat elliptical fissures, 8 to 14 mm. in width; 
seeds numerous, ovoid, compressed, yellowish-green and borne on 
the divided parietal placentas between the fissures; odor slight; 
taste very bitter. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 290. 

Powder. — Light yellow; consisting chiefly of fragments of 
parenchymatous cells and occasional fragments of tracheae; very 
few lignified tissues of the seed-coat, showing the characteristic stone 
cells which are nearly isodiametric, or irregular, having either straight 
undulate and strongly lignified walls, marked by simple pores; 
globules of fixed oil and aleurone grains very few. The powder in 
which seeds are present contains numerous oil globules, and the outer 
epidermal cells have reticulated thickenings; the stone cells have 
usually undulate walls, which are more or less porous and strongly 
lignified. 

Constituents. — The activity of Colocynth is due to at least two 
principles, one of which is an amorphous alkaloid, and the other is 
represented by the ether and chloroform extracts of the resin. Colo- 



656 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



cynth contains, furthermore, a considerable proportion of cx-elaterm, 
but apparently none of the physiologically active /3-elaterin. It has, 
moreover, been shown that the products obtained from colocynth 




3 c 
o o 



> a 

02 S 

* § 

P d 

03 °J 



b£ « 

.a ^ 

3 .13 
.2 £ 
SP.-S 



by previous investigators, which were designated " colocynthin," 
" colocynthitin," etc., do not represent pure substances, but are mix- 
tures of a very indefinite nature, and that the amount of glucosidic 
substance in the fruit is extremely small. The substance to which the 



PEPO 



657 



name " citrullol " was originally assigned has recently been shown 
to consist of a phytosterol glucoside. The seeds contain about 15 
per cent of a fixed oil. — Power, Jour. Chem. Soc, 1910, p. 99. 

Pepo. — Pumpkin Seed. — The ripe seeds of Cucurbita Pepo 
(Fam. Cucurbitacese), a procumbent herb, native of tropical America 




a e 



Fig. 290. — Citrullus Colocynthis: A, seed: a, in longitudinal section, and b, 
surface view; S, deep clefts or fissures; m, micropyle; g, hilum; w, radicle; 
c, cotyledons. B, parenchyma cells of ripe fruit showing simple pores, 
the walls are colored blue with chlor-zinc-iodide. C, longitudinal section of 
wall of pericarp of ripe fruit showing e, epidermis; p, parenchyma; Sc, 
sclerotic cells which gradually pass into a thick-walled parenchyma consisting 
of small cells (p'); 9, spiral vessels; P, isodiametric, porous parenchyma 
cells, containing air and of which the fruit for the most part consists. D, 
cross-section of seed-coat showing G, an outer layer which is more or less 
easily separable from the rest of the seed and the walls of which are somewhat 
mucilaginous; E, epidermis of palisade-like cells; Sc, sclerotic cells; PI, a 
layer of tabular cells with undulate walls; T, a layer of small somewhat 
branching cells, the walls of which are not strongly thickened and either porous 
or reticulate; P, several layers of parenchyma and the collapsed epidermis; 
Pe, perisperm; En, endosperm E, tangential section of tabular sclerotic 
cells of seed-coat shown in PI in Fig. D. — After Meyer. 



and possibly tropical Asia, and long cultivated in tropical and tem- 
perate zones. 

Description. — Anatropous, broadly elliptical, acute, acuminate 
or truncate, flattened, about 20 mm. in length, 10 mm. in breadth, 
about 2 mm. in thickness; externally white or light yellow, very 



658 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

smooth or somewhat rough from adhering fruit pulp, marked by a 
shallow groove or slight ridge parallel to and within 1 mm. of the 
margin; raphe not conspicuous, hilum characterized by a minute 
depression; seed-coat consisting of two distinct layers — the outer 
white and coriaceous and the inner dark green and membranaceous; 
embryo white, straight, with a small hypocotyl and two plano-convex 
cotyledons ; slightly odorous when contused ; taste bland. 

Inner Structure. — The outer epidermal layer consists of palisade- 
like cells, the outer walls usually being torn off so that it appears as 
though the seeds were covered with very long hairs ; a sub-epidermal 
layer consisting of 5 to 12 rows of cells having slightly thickened, lig- 
nified and porous walls ; a layer of strongly lignified stone cells, ellip- 
tical in outline; a single layer of small cells resembling those of the 
sub-epidermal layer; several rows of spongy parenchyma cells with 
characteristic reticulate markings and separated from each other by 
large intercellular spaces; several layers of parenchyma cells, the 
inner layer being more or less collapsed and having on the inner por- 
tion a single epidermal layer the cells having rather thick walls; the 
perisperm cells are usually more or less collapsed; the endosperm 
consists of a single layer of cells filled with small aleurone grains ; the 
cotyledons consist of thin-walled, isodiametric, elongated, or palisade- 
like cells containing a fixed oil and numerous small aleurone grains. 

Powder. — Yellowish-white; starch grains few, spheroidal from 
0.002 to 0.004 mm. in diameter and occurring in the cells of the outer 
epidermis and endosperm; characteristic, ellipsoidal, lignified, porous, 
thick-walled stone cells, from 0.045 to 0.100 mm. in diameter; yellow 
pigment cells of seed-coat ; oil and protein grains in embryo. 

Constituents. — Fixed oil about 40 per cent; starch about 30 per 
cent; proteins; a resin. There is no indication of the presence of any 
principle possessing anthelmintic properties. Any therapeutic value 
must be attributed solely to mechanical action of the sharp edges of 
the bruised seeds. 

Allied Plants.— The seeds of other species of Cucurbita are 
also used in medicine; in Italy C. maxima and in the West Indies 
C. occidentalis are the sources of the drug. 

The seeds of other members of the Cucurbitacese are also employed 
in medicine ; they include the seeds of watermelon (Citrullus vulgaris) , 
cucumber (Cucumis sativus), muskmelon (Cucumis melo) and lagen- 
aria (Cucurbita Lagenaria). 

Watermelon seeds contain a fixed oil resembling in composition 
that obtained from pumpkin seed. It also contains a resin which 
consists in part of a crystalline compound, cucurbitol. 



BRYONY 



659 



Literature. — Power, Jour. Amer. Chem. Soc, 1910, pp. 346 and 
360. 

Bryonia. — Bryony. — The roots of Bryonia alba and B. dioica 
(Fam. Cucurbitacese), perennial vines indigenous to central and 



1 


^<%$k MLMfr 


LJi:^^B UsZsl 


- ' ^1^ 




tk ^8?'- 


' m 


I^Jii^ 



Fig. 291. — Bryonia dioica: Seedlings grown in the botanical gardens, University 
of Minnesota, — After Newcomb. 

southern Europe. The former is found in central and eastern Europe, 
produces black berries and is sometimes referred to as black bryony. 
The latter (Fig. 291) is found in central and southern Europe, espe- 
cially in the Mediterranean countries, and produces red beirie?- 



660 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

The root is gathered in the summer or fall, cut transversely into 
pieces and is either used in the fresh or dried condition. 

Description. — In nearly circular disks, from 2.5 to 10 cm. in diam- 
eter, and from 4 to 18 mm. in thickness; outer surface light yellowish- 
brown and very roughly wrinkled ; the transverse surface, brownish- 
wriite or yellowish-white, showing a cortex about 2 mm. in width, a 
very broad radiate xylem, made up of 4 concentric zones, pith small, 
frequently depressed and often showing a small group of primary 
tracheae; fracture short; odor aromatic, when kept in tightly closed 
containers; taste bitter and acrid. 

Inner Structure. — Cork consisting of numerous, tangentially 
elongated, thin-walled, yellowish cells; cortex made up of thin-walled, 
tangentiall yelongated, starch-bearing parenchyma; inner bark of 
narrow strands of leptome and parenchyma, separated by broad 
medullary rays, among which are distributed secretion cells containing 
a somewhat granular content and being distinguished by their some- 
what cylindrical shape ; xylem consisting of radial rows of very wide 
tracheae, surrounded by parenchyma, and separated by very broad 
medullary rays; the tracheae are marked by reticulate perforations or 
simple pores, and vary in width from 0.075 to 0.350 mm.; starch 
grains from 0.005 to 0.020 mm. in diameter, single or 2- to 6-com- 
pound, usually having a large central cleft and varying in shape 
from spheroidal to plano-convex and somewhat polyhedral grains, 
occasionally altered or swollen, the latter varying from 0.020 to 0.035 
mm. in diameter. 

Powder. — Oyster-white; consisting of numerous starch grains, 
very wide reticulate tracheae and occasional fragments of cork. The 
powder is colored purplish and reddish-brown with sulphuric 
acid. 

Constituents. — A brown amorphous glucoside, having a bitter 
taste and yielding on hydrolysis a resin and dextrose ; an amorphous 
brownish-yellow alkaloid, possessing an intensely bitter taste; a 
crystalline phytosterol glucoside, bryonol; an optically inactive 
phytosterol; a crystalline neutral substance; a small amount of a 
volatile oil; a sugar; a mixture of fatty acids; and an enzyme 
which hydrolyses the above-mentioned amorphous glucosidic con- 
stituent, and also effects the hydrolysis of amygdalin and salicin. 
It has been shown that the product designated by previous investi- 
gators as " bryonin " must have consisted of a complex mixture, and 
that the purgative property of the root resides chiefly in its resinous 
and alkaloidal constituents. 

Literature. — Power and Moore, Jour, Chem. Soc, 1911, p. 937. 



ELATERIN 661 

Elaterinum. — Elaterin. — A mixture of principles deposited 
from the juice of the full grown, but unripe fruit of Ecballium Elater- 
ium (Fam. Cucurbitacese) , a decumbent, perennial herb, indigenous 
to the countries of the Mediterranean region, and cultivated to some 
extent in central Europe, and at Mitchan and Hitchin, England. 
The fruit is ovoid, fleshy, about 4 cm. in length, when unripe, of a 
pale green color and covered with numerous, uniseriate glandular 
hairs. When ripe, the fruit separates suddenly from the stalk, the 
juice with the seeds being forcibly ejected from the aperture left 
by the detached peduncle. This phenomenon is due to the trans- 
ferral of the juice from the outer layers of the pericarp to the central 
cavity, the pressure becoming so great as to finally cause the cells 
to break at their weakest point. In order to obtain the juice, it is 
therefore necessary to collect the unripe fruits, which are sliced 
longitudinally, the juice being obtained by slight pressure. The 
juice is allowed to stand for 2 hours, and the deposit, which is formed, 
is collected on cheese cloth, rapidly drained and then dried between 
layers of filter paper, using porous bricks and a gentle heat. The 
resulting product is known in commerce as elaterium. 

Elaterium usually occurs in rectangular pieces, from 3 to 4 cm. 
in diameter and about 5 mm. in thickness. When fresh, it is of a 
greenish-brown color, changing to a light grayish-brown on keeping. 
It has a granular fracture, a somewhat aromatic odor, and an acrid, 
bitter taste. It consists of 40 per cent of elaterin; 17 per cent of a 
resin; 6 per cent of starch, and small quantities of other principles. 

Elaterin. — Recent investigations show that this substance is a 
mixture of two principles, possessing widely different properties, 
(a) , From 60 to 80 per cent of a lsevorotatory principle , a-elaterin, 
which is completely devoid of purgative action; and (6), a small 
quantity of a dextrorotatory constituent, a-elaterin, which possesses 
strong purgative properties. The studies of Power and Moore 
(Jour. Chem. Soc, 1909, p. 1985; 1910, p. 1797), serve to establish the 
fact that elaterin exists in the fruit in a free state, and not in the 
form of a glucoside, as a previous investigator had affirmed. Various 
products heretofore regarded as definite constituents of the fruit were 
likewise shown to have consisted of more or less complex mixtures. 

CAMPANULACE^, OR BLUEBELL FAMILY 

A family of about 1500 species, which are widely distributed, 
those occurring in temperate regions being perennial herbs, while 
those of the tropics include shrubs and trees. The leaves are alter- 



662 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

nate, the flowers are regular, and have either bell-shaped or some- 
what bi-labiate corollas; the fruits are either capsules or berries. 
A very striking characteristic of the family is the occurrence of 
inulin in place of starch. Laticiferous tubes are abundantly devel- 
oped in Lobelia, even occurring in the pith, the branches penetrating 
the tissues of the xylem and uniting with the tubes in the cortex. 
They are also found in other genera. The tracheae are narrow, and 
the walls are marked by either simple or bordered pores. The wood 
fibers usually possess bordered pores. The leaf-teeth are usually 
terminated by glands, and in close proximity to them on the upper 
surface are large water pores. The non-glandular hairs are unicellu- 
lar, being occasionally silicified. Calcium oxalate and glandular 
hairs are wanting. 

Lobelia. — Indian or Wild Tobacco. — The leaves and flowering 
tops of Lobelia inflata (Fam. Campanulacese) , an annual herb 
(Fig. 292) indigenous to the eastern and central United States and 
Canada, and cultivated in New York and Massachusetts. Lobelia 
should be collected after a portion of the capsules have become 
inflated, carefully dried and preserved. 

Description. — Stem cylindrical, somewhat angular, slightly winged 
light brown, with numerous spreading hairs, internodes 2 to 3 cm. in 
length. Leaves elliptical or ovate-lanceolate, alternate, 4 to 9 cm. 
in length, 8 to 30 mm. in breadth; summit acute or acuminate; base 
obtuse or acute; margin irregularly denticulate, the divisions with a 
yellowish-brown, gland-like summit; upper surface yellowish-green 
or light brown and with scattered bristly hairs; under surface light 
brown, with numerous bristly hairs, the veins of the first order diverg- 
ing at an angle of about 65° and curving upward near the margin; 
petiole either wanting or about 1 mm. in length. Inflorescence in 
leafy spikes; pedicel about 3 mm. long; calyx 5-parted about 5 mm. 
in length, the subulate lobes about as long as the tube; corolla 5- 
parted, tubular, about as long as the calyx, pale blue, upper portion 
cleft nearly to the base, the lobes on either side of the cleft erect or 
recurved, the other three united; stamens with anthers united above 
into a curved tube; stigma 2-lobed, ovary 2-locular. Fruit an ovoid, 
inflated capsule 5 to 8 mm. in length, opening at the summit, adher- 
ing to which are the calyx teeth. Seeds numerous, brownish, some- 
what ellipsoidal or ovoid, about 0.7 mm. in length, coarsely reticulate. 
Odor slight; taste mild, becoming acrid. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 292. 

Powder. — Dark green; non-glandular hairs elongated-conical, 
from 0.300 to 0.600 mm. in length; fragments of stem with tracheae 



LOBELIA 



663 




Fig. 292. — Indian tobacco (Lobelia inflata): A, upper portion of shoot showing 
the dentate-denticulate leaves and the inflated capsules which develop 
soon after fertilization; B, transverse section of leaf showing the large epi- 
dermal cells (e), palisade cells (p), trachea? (t) loose parenchyma (m) and 
lower epidermis (i) ; C, surface section of lower epidermis showing 3 elliptical 
stomata; D, surface section of upper epidermis; E, one of the hairs which 
are found on the stems and leaves; F, wood fibers of the stem; G, a flower; 
H, longitudinal section of flower showing the ovary with ovules (o), style (s), 
hairy bifid stigma {t), united stamens (a), corolla (p) and calyx (c); I, longi- 
tudinal section of stamen showing the hairy summit; J, hair from stamen; 
K, pollen grain; L, hair from calyx; M, seed with reticulate seed-coat; N t 
upper epidermis of corolla showing spherite crystals of a carbohydrate. 



664 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

showing annular or spiral thickenings or simple pores associated with 
narrow wood fibers, the walls of the latter being rather thin, more or 
less lignified and porous ; fragments of epidermis of leaf with elliptical 
stomata, 0.025 mm. in length, and usually with 3 or 4 neighboring 
cells; pollen grains nearly spheroidal, 0.015 to 0.030 mm. in diam- 
eter; seeds strongly reticulate, the seed-coat composed of yellowish- 
brown, polygonal cells, having thick walls; fragments of branched 
laticiferous ducts having a granular content. 

Constituents. — An amorphous, acrid, emetic alkaloid lobeline, 
which decomposes readily on heating, and is contained in greatest 
amount in the seeds; a non-acrid but pungent volatile oil, lobelianin; 
a colorless, tasteless, crystalline, neutral principle inflatin, which is 
intimately associated with the alkaloid; and lobelic acid, which is 
combined with the alkaloid lobeline. Lobelacrin is regarded as the 
lobelate of lobeline. The seeds contain in addition a fixed oil, which 
when pure is bland, non-acrid and somewhat resembles that of lin- 
seed. The oil usually seen on the market is of a greenish color and 
quite acrid and is said to contain all the active principles of the drug. 

Allied Plants. — Red lobelia or Cardinal flower, Lobelia cardinalis, 
and blue lobelia, L. syphilitic^, as well as a large number of other 
species of Lobelia, are used to some extent in medicine. Lobelia 
nicotiansefolia of India and Delissea acuminata of the Hawaiian 
Islands have properties similar to Lobelia inflata. 

Adulterants. — The seeds of mullein (Verbascum Thapsus) are 
commonly used as an adulterant of Lobelia seeds, but are distin- 
guished from them by not being reticulate. 

COMPOSITES, OR COMPOSITE FAMILY 

The largest family of phaenogamous plants, comprising probably 
more than 10,000 plants, which are very widely distributed. They 
are distinguished from all other plants in that the inflorescence is a 
head or capitulum (Fig. 296), consisting of one or two kinds of 
flowers, arranged on a common torus, and subtended by a number 
of bracts, forming an involucre. The flowers are epigynous and the 
fruit is an achene, usually surmounted by the persistent calyx, which 
consists of hairs, bristles, teeth or scales, which are known collectively 
as the pappus (Fig. 294) . 

The individual flowers are called florets (Figs. 293 to 295), and 
may be hermaphrodite or pistillate, monoecious, dioecious, or neutral. 
Depending upon the shape of the corolla, two kinds of flowers are 
recognized, one in which the corolla forms a tube, which is 5-lobed 



COMPOSITE 665 

or 5-cleft, known as tubular flowers (Fig. 293); and one in which 
the petals are united into a short tube, with an upper part that forms 
a large, strap-shaped, usually 5-toothed limb, known as ligulate 
flowers (Figs. 293 and 294). 

In some of the plants of the Compositse the head consists of 
ligulate flowers only, but in the larger number of plants the head 
is composed of both tubular and ligulate flowers or tubular flowers 
alone and accordingly two main groups or sub-families are distin- 
guished. The sub-family in which all of the flowers are ligulate is 
known as Liguliflorae, or Cichoriaceae, by those who give the group 
the rank of a family. This group includes plants like dandelion, 
chicory, lettuce, and Hieracium. The group or sub-family in which 
the flowers are all tubular or ligulate on the margin only is known 
as the Tubuliflorae. When the head consists only of tubular flowers 
it is called discoid, but when ligulate flowers are also present it is 
called radiate. When the heads are radiate, as in the common daisy, 
the tubular flowers are spoken of as disk-flowers, and the ligulate 
flowers as ray-flowers. The disk-flowers are usually perfect, while 
the ray-flowers are pistillate or neutral (without either stamens or 
pistils). By some systematists the Tubuliflorae are divided into 
groups which have been given the rank of families. This division 
is based especially on the characters of the stamens. In a small 
group represented by the ragweed and known as the Ambrosiacese, 
the anthers, while close together (connivent), are not united, and the 
corolla in the marginal or pistillate flowers is reduced to a short tube 
or ring. In a large group, which includes probably 10,000 species 
and which is considered to be the Compositse proper, the stamens in 
the tubular flowers are syngenesious and the marginal or ray-flowers 
are distinctly ligulate. This group includes the daisy, sunflower, 
golden-rod, aster, thistle, and most of the plants which yield official 
drugs. 

The Compositse are characterized by having inulin, in the cell- 
sap of the parenchyma cells, especially in the underground organs. 
Inulin usually occurs in solution, but may be caused to separate, by 
the addition of alcohol, in the form of sphserite aggregates which 
resemble in structure starch grains, but the aggregates are not enclosed 
by distinct membrane. Laticiferous vessels are common to all of 
the plants of the Cichoriacese. These vessels occur either on the 
inner face of the strands of leptome or are distributed in the pericycle 
of the stems. Schizogenous resin-canals are distributed among the 
parenchyma cells of the primary cortex and pith, of a large number of 
the genera of the Tubuliflorse. Secretory cavities and elongated 



666 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



secretory cells are also found in a number of genera. The walls 
of the tracheae possess either simple pores or occasionally scalariform 
perforations. The wood fibers are marked by simple pores. The 
non-glandular hairs are usually uniseriate. The glandular hairs 
are widely distributed and polymorphic. The stomata are usually 
surrounded by 3 or more epidermal cells. Calcium oxalate is secreted 
occasionally in the form of small needles or octahedra, and very rarely 
in the form of rhombohedra or rosette aggregates. 

Arnica. — Arnica Flowers. — The dried, expanded flower-heads of 
Arnica montana (Fam. Composite), a perennial herb indigenous to 
central Europe, and growing in the mountains of Switzerland, Asia 
and western North America. On account of the involucre and torus 




Fig. 293. — Arnica florets: A, overlapping, bristly hairs of pappus; B, ray or 
ligulate floret; C, disk or tubular floret. AC, inferior ovary becoming in 
fruit an achene; PA, pappus; P, corolla; A, anthers; Y, style; T, bifid 
stigma. 



being injured by the larvae of the insect Trypeta arnicivora, these 
parts are removed and the florets alone used. 

Description.— Sub-globular or truncate-conical, about 15 mm. 
in diameter; involucre campanulate, bracts twenty to twenty-four 
in two rows, linear-lanceolate, dark green, pubescent glandular; 
torus solid, slightly convex, deeply pitted, bristly hairy; ray or lig- 
ulate florets (Fig. 293), fourteen to twenty, about 2 cm. in length, 
bright yellow, pistillate, corolla 3-toothed, 7- to 12-veined, very 
pubescent and glandular below, ovary about 4 mm. in length, erect, 
pubescent and glandular, pappus consisting of a single row of about 
thirty rough bristles; disk or tubular florets (Fig. 293), forty or fifty, 
about 17 mm. in length, perfect, bright yellow, corolla 5-toothed, very 



ARNICA 667 

glandular and pubescent below, ovary about 6 mm. in length, glan- 
dular and pubescent; achene spindle-shaped, dark brown, finely 
striate, glandular-pubescent and surmounted by a pappus (Fig. 293) 
of white barbed bristles about 7 mm. in length; odor distinct; taste 
bitter and acrid. 

Powder. — Yellowish-brown; pollen grains spheroidal, from 0.025 
to 0.035 mm. in diameter, having 3 pores and a cuticle with numerous 
spinose thickenings; non-glandular hairs of three kinds: (a), either 
unicellular; (b), uniseriate, 5- to 6-celled, or (c), consisting of a pair 
of united unicellular hairs with numerous pores on the dividing wall; 
glandular hairs of three kinds: (a), either with a large unicellular 
stalk and unicellular glandular head; (b), with a stalk of a single row 
of 4 cells and a 1-celled glandular head; or (c), a stalk of a double 
row of 5 cells and a 2-celled glandular head; pappus consisting of a 
multicellular axis with unicellular branches (Fig. 293). 

Constituents. — A bitter crystalline principle, arnicin, about 4 
per cent; and volatile oil 0.04 to 0.07 per cent, consisting of a butyra- 
ceous substance. 

Adulterants. — Arnica flowers are not infrequently adulterated 
with the flowers of various other Composite, or even entirely sub- 
stituted by them; of these may be mentioned the flowers of Calendula 
officinalis (see Calendula) ; species of Inulu, the achenes of which are 
glabrous; and Tragopogon pratensis, the ligulate florets of which 
are 5-toothed at the summit (Fig. 294). 

The flowers of Inula britannica are smaller, the ligulate flowers 
are 4-veined, the receptacle is smooth and the achene is about 1 
mm. in length. (U. S. Dept. Agric.) 

Anthemis. — Roman or English Chamomile. — The expanded 
flower-heads of Anthemis nobilis (Fam. Composite), a perennial 
herb indigenous to southern and western Europe and cultivated in 
Belgium, England, France, Germany, Hungary and the United 
States, and naturalized from Rhode Island to Michigan and south to 
Delaware. The flowers are collected from cultivated plants, and 
dried by artificial means, the principal supplies coming from Belgium, 
France and Saxony. 

Description. — Globular, compressed, 1.5 to 2 cm. in diameter; 
involucre hemispherical, with two or three rows of imbricated, nearly 
equal, somewhat elliptical, very pubescent scales, having a greenish 
middle portion and a yellowish margin; torus conical or convex, 
solid, 3 to 4 mm. in height, occasionally hollow, and sometimes con- 
taining the larvae of an insect; chaff-scales resembling the involucral 
scales, about 2 mm. in length; ligulate florets numerous, 6 to 10 mm. 



668 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 294. — Flowers of the following Composite: A-H, Inula Helenium; 7", 
Carthamus tinctorus; J-L, Taraxacum officinale; M, Tussilago Farfara; 
N, O, Calendula officinalis; PS, Tragopogon pratensis; T, Tagetes tenui- 
folia. 

A, ligulate and tubular florets of Inula Helenium; B, united anthers of same 
showing hairs (h) on the filaments; C, hairs of filaments magnified; D, 
portion of barbed hair of pappus; E, akene; F, double hairs of akene; 
G, cells of epidermis of akene containing prisms of calcium oxalate about 
0.025 mm. in length; H, pollen grains. /, tubular floret of safflower (Car- 
thamus tinctorius). J, ligulate floret of dandelion (Taraxacum officinale); 
K, one of the akenes showing spreading pappus on long stalk which develops 
after fertilization; L, hairs of corolla. M, ligulate floret of coltsfoot (Tussil- 



CHAMOMILE 669 

in length, corolla white, 3-toothed, 4-nerved, ovary about 1 mm. in 
length, glandular, style slender, stigma bi-cleft; tubular florets few 
or none, lemon-yellow, perfect; achene oblong, pappus none; odor 
distinct; taste aromatic and bitter. 

Inner Structure. — Bracts having scattered, somewhat thick- 
walled, unicellular hairs and occasional sessile glandular hairs; 
pollen grains, occasional, spheroidal about 0.030 mm. in diameter, 
the cuticle being very prickly; sclerenchymatous fibers about 0.010 
mm. in width and having very thick walls; papillae of corolla and 
stigma; small rosette aggregates of calcium oxalate occasionally 
present ; characteristic cells of anther. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil, which is bluish-green when fresh, 
0.8 to 1 per cent; a bitter crystalline glucoside anthemic acid (see 
Matricaria) ; 5.25 per cent of resin ; 1.50 per cent of a bitter crystalline 
wax ; and tannin. The volatile oil consists principally of the isobutyl, 
amyl and hexyl esters of butyric, angelic and tiglic acids, and anthe- 
mol, an isomer of camphor. 

Matricaria. — Wild or German Chamomile. — The flower-heads 
of Matricaria Chamomilla (Fam. Composite), an annual herb, indig- 
enous to Europe and western Asia, and naturalized in Australia and 
certain parts of the United States, including New York and Penn- 
sylvania. The flower-heads are collected, when they are mature or 
expanded, from wild plants. 

Description. — Rounded, conical, 3 to 10 mm. in breadth; ped- 
uncle 0.5 to 3.5 cm. in length, nearly glabrous; involucre hemispher- 
ical, scales twenty to thirty, imbricated, oblanceolate, the middle 
portion brownish, margin whitish, pubescent; torus ovoid, becoming 
conical and hollow, deeply pitted, naked, 3 to 5 mm. in height, about 
1.5 mm. in diameter; ray or ligulate florets, twelve to eighteen, pis- 
tillate, about 12 mm. in length, corolla white, 3-toothed, 4-veined; 
disk or tubular flowers, numerous, yellowish, perfect, oblong, small, 
somewhat glandular, about 2.5 mm. in length; achenes somewhat 
obovoid, about 0.5 mm. in length; faintly 3- to 5-ribbed; pappus 
none, or forming a membranous crown; odor distinct; taste aromatic 
and bitter. 

Inner Structure. — Pollen grains numerous, from 0.018 to 0.025 
mm. in diameter, nearly spheroidal or triangular from the 3 pores, 

ago Farfara). N, ligulate floret of marigold (Calendula officinalis); O, one of 
the hairs of corolla. P, pappus of yellow goat's-beard (Tragopogon pra- 
tensis); R, one of the long slender hairs in the pappus; S, hair from akene. 
T, two double hairs from akene of Tagetes tenuifolia, c, corolla; t, stigma; 
s, stamens; p, pappus. 



670 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

the cuticle being very prickly; fragments of corolla with sessile, 
8-celled glandular hairs; characteristic cells of anther; stigma with 
papillae; cells of achenes having scalariform perforations in the walls; 
sclerenchymatous fibers of involucral scales. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil, about 0.25 per cent of a viscid con- 
sistency and an intense blue color. The color is due to azulene, a 
similar principle being present in the volatile oils derived from 
Absinthium, Achillea (yarrow), Sumbul and Valerian. The flowers 
are also said to contain a bitter principle, anthemic acid, which forms 
colorless, silky needles soluble in water and alcohol, and anthemidin, 
which separates from the alcoholic solution in the form of a tasteless 
crystalline compound. Malic acid and tannin are also present in the 
drug. The oil when distilled from the involucre soon changes to 
yellow, finally becoming brown; while the oil from the flowers alone 
retains its deep-blue color even when exposed to light for some 
weeks. 

Adulterants. — In Anthemis arvensis the receptacle is solid 
and conical and the involucral scales are lanceolate. In Anthemis 
Cotula the peduncles are slightly pubescent and the ligulate flowers 
neutral. 

Spanish Chamomile, the flowering heads of wild-grown Anthemis 
nobilis, contain more volatile oil and bitter principles than the cul- 
tivated and are probably more active, but more liable to produce 
nausea. (Ballard, Jour. A. Ph. A., 1918, 7, p. 952.) 

Literature. — Meyer, Wissenchaftliche Drogenkunde, Vol. II., 
p. 299; also Kraemer's Applied and Economic Botany, p. 396. 

Calendula. — Marigold. — The ligulate florets of Calendula offi- 
cinalis (Fam. Composite), an annual herb indigenous to southern 
Europe and the Levant, and widely cultivated as a garden plant. 
The flowers are collected when fully expanded, and then dried. 

Description. — Florets usually without the ovary; corolla bright 
yellow. 15 to 25 mm. in length, 1- to 3-toothed, 4- or 5-veined, margin 
nearly entire, tube sometimes inclosing the remains of a filiform 
style and bifid stigma, pubescent on the outer surface; ovary oblong, 
about 0.5 mm. in length, pubescent; odor distinct; taste faintly 
saline, slightly bitter. 

Powder. — (Figs. 44 and 294.) Bright yellow; epidermal cells 
narrow, elongated, having sinuous walls, numerous oily globules and 
irregular chromoplastids; pollen grains spheroidal about 0.040 mm. 
in diameter, having 3 pores and the cuticle being spinose; non- 
glandular hairs consisting of a double row of cells having a 1- or 2- 
celled summit; calcium oxalate in rosette-aggregate crystals about 



WORMSEED G71 

0.040 mm. in diameter. On adding the powder to water the latter 
becomes a pale straw-color. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil; an amorphous bitter principle; 
a gummy substance, calendulin, which forms with water a transparent 
mucilage that is not precipitated by tannin; and resin. 

Allied Plants. — The florets of various Composite are sometimes 
admixed with or substituted for Calendula, of which the following 
may be mentioned together with their principal distinguishing char- 
acteristics (Fig. 294). The ligulate corolla of Taraxacum officinale 
is 5-toothed; the ligulate corolla of Arnica montana is 7- to 12-veined; 
the ligulate corolla of Tussilago Farfara is linear, about 13 mm. in 
length and about 0.3 mm. in breadth, summit acute, entire; and the 
ray florets of Tagetes patula are somewhat spatulate, about 20 mm. 
in length and 10 mm. in width, sometimes marked with darker stripes, 
and have undulate margins. "~ 

Santonica. — Levant Wormseed. — The flower-heads of Arte- 
misia Cina (Fam. Composite), a small shrub indigenous to the deserts 
in Russian Turkestan. In recent years the Russian Government has 
divided the region bounded on the east by the mountain chain of the 
Kara-tau, and on the west by the river Syr Darja, into 5 districts, and 
leased the right of collection for 1 year to the highest bidder in public 
auction. The flower-heads are collected in July and August before 
they expand, and carefully dried and preserved. If the flower-heads 
are unexpanded and quickly dried they will yield over 3 per cent of 
santonin; just so soon as the flower matures, however, there is a rapid 
disappearance of the anthelmintic principle. 

Description. — Oblong or ellipsoidal, 2 to 4 mm. in length, 1 to 1.5 
mm. in diameter; involucre ovoid, consisting of twelve to eighteen 
closely imbricated, ovate or ovate-lanceolate, glandular, somewhat 
shiny bracts, about 2 mm. in length, with a yellowish-green or greenish- 
brown middle portion and whitish margin; torus flat, naked, with 
three to six unexpanded, perfect tubular flowers about 1.5 mm. in 
length and completely inclosed by the upper bracts: ovary oblong; 
pappus wanting; odor distinct; taste aromatic. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 295. 

Powder. — Light brown; pollen grains spheroidal from 0.015 to 
0.020 mm. in diameter, nearly smooth and having 3 pores; glandular 
hairs of two kinds, either with 1 or 2 short cells or with 2 to 3 pairs of 
cells. If a few c.c. of an alcoholic (95 per cent) extract of santonica 
is heated with a few drops of potassium hydrate solution, a reddish 
color is produced. 

Constituents. — A crystalline neutral principle, santonin, which 



672 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



occurs to the extent of 2 to 3.5 per cent just before the expansion of 
the flowers; volatile oil about 2 per cent, consisting chiefly of cineol, 
some terpineol, terpinene and inactive pinene; a crystalline principle 
artemisin, which is apparently ox^'santonin ; and a resin. Santonin 
crystallizes in rhombic prisms, becoming yellow on exposure to light; 
it is nearly insoluble in water, sparingly soluble in alcohol; and col- 
ored red by alcoholic solutions of the alkalies. 

E 




Fig. 295. — Santonica: A, transverse section of the wall of the ovary; E, E', e, 
epidermal cells; g, tracheae, s, leptome. B, longitudinal section through a 
flower bud showing involucre (H); C, stamen; D, glandular hair of a bud- 
scale; E, glandular hair as viewed from above; F, style; G, transverse 
section of the wall of the ovary showing tracheae (g, g') and conducting cells 
traversed by pollen tube (I); H, pollen grain; J, flower bud showing ovary 
(/); K, expanded flower showing stamens (S). — After Meyer. 



Allied Plant. — Artemisia gallica, a plant abundant in France, 
contains santonin and about 1 per cent of a volatile oil. 

Adulterants. — A santonin-free santonica has been recently 
found in the markets of Europe and this country. — Enz., Apoth. 
Zcit., 1913, p. 514; LaWall, Jour. A. Ph. A., 1913, p. 596. 



INSECT FLOWERS 673 

The seeds of Quisqualis indica (Fam. Combretacese) furnish a 
substitute for Santonica. The plant grows wild in the tropical 
regions of Asia, America, and Africa. The best drug comes 
from the province of Szetchouan, which furnishes it in large 
quantities. The seeds contain an active principle resembling 
santonin and possess anthelmintic properties. The maximum 
dose is 7.5 g. for adults. Devenport, Schweiz. Apoth Zeitg., 1918, 
56, p. 522. 

Pyrethri Flores. — Insect Flowers, Pulvis Insecticidus or 
Insect Powder. — The unexpanded or partly expanded flower heads of 
Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium and C. roseum or C. Marschallii 
(Fam. Compositse) , perennial herbs (Fig. 296) , resembling in habit 
the common white or field daisy (C. Leucanthemum) . The Dal- 
matian insect powder is obtained from C. cinerariifolium, a perennial 
herb indigenous to Dalmatia and Herzegovina, where it is also 
cultivated as well as in northern Africa, New York and California. 
The Persian insect flowers are derived from C. roseum and C. Mar- 
schallii, perennial herbs growing in the Caucasus regions, Armenia 
and northern Persia. The flowers, from 2- to 6-year-old plants, are 
collected. The stems are cut, the flower heads being torn off by a 
combing machine, carefully dried and preserved. The finest and 
most powerful insect powder is obtained from the closed or only 
partly expanded flowers, providing they are properly dried and 
preserved. 

Dalmatian Flowers. — Heads hemispherical, about 12 mm. in 
diameter, consisting of a short, rounded, conical torus or receptacle; 
a straw-colored involucre, consisting of 2 or 3 series of scales; numer- 
ous yellow, tubular flowers ; and a circle of cream-colored ray flowers. 
Involucral scales of 2 kinds : (a) , the outer being lanceolate, having a 
pronounced keel, somewhat hairy and of a light brown color on the 
outer surface, and smooth, shiny and of a straw-yellow color on the 
inner surface ; (6) , inner scales spatulate, much longer than the outer 
scales and having a white membranous margin. Torus or receptacle, 
broadly conical or somewhat flattened and rounded, grayish-yellow, 
and somewhat roughened from the scars of the tubular florets. Ray- 
florets ligulate, pistillate, the corolla varying in length from 1 to 2 
cm., having about 15 delicate veins and 3 short, obtuse or rounded 
teeth, the middle tooth often being much smaller than the other 
two. Disk-florets, tubular, about 6 mm. in length, perfect, having 
a 5-lobed, yellow corolla, about 1.5 mm. in length and borne on the 
ovary, the latter being 5-ribbed, the pappus forming a short-toothed 
crown. Stems either wanting or attaining a length of 3 cm. and 



674 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



having a diameter of 1 mm. ; cylindrical, grayish- or yellowish-green, 
pubescent and having 9 to 12 prominent ribs. 

Persian Flowers. — Heads flattened top-shaped, about 12 mm. in 
diameter, and resembling the Dalmatian flowers. The involucral 
scales are greenish-brown having a dark brown membranous margin: 




Fig. 296. — A portion of a plot of Chrysanthemum cinerariifolium, the flowers, 
which somewhat resemble the common white or field daisy, furnish the Dal- 
matian insect powder. — After Newcomb. 

the ray florets are reddish-brown or reddish-purple, attaining a length 
of 15 mm., being somewhat plicate, unequally blunt, 3-toothed and 
having 7 veins; disk florets tubular, yellow, the corolla scarcely 
longer than the brownish, 10-striate ovary, the latter having a mem- 
branous pappus. 



INSECT FLOWERS 



675 



Powder. — (Fig. 297.) Dalmatian powder, light yellowish-brown; 
Persian powder, light brown; fragments of the ovary, corolla and 
flower stalk contain brownish resin secretion canals, the contents 
of which are soluble in hot alcohol, colored yellowish upon the addi- 




Fig. 297. — Flores Pyrethri (Insect flowers): sc, stone cells; ep, upper epidermis 
of a bract; h, h, non-glandular hairs of bracts; ept, papillae on the upper 
surface of the ligulate corolla; St, St', loose parenchyma of the ligulate cor- 
olla; g, a trachea of a bract with annular thickening; S, tooth of a tubular 
floret, some of the cells of which contain rosette * aggregates of calcium 
oxalate; ep', epidermis of the under surface of a ligulate corolla; P, section 
of pappus showing some of the lignified cells, some of which contain mono- 
clinic prisms as shown at rh; pa, parenchyma of a bract; Fr, somewhat 
thickened, porous cells of the pericarp of the achenes; D, glandular hairs 
found on the wall of the ovary; po, pollen grains; iep, cells of the involucre 
between the bracts. — After Hanausek. 



tion of a solution of potassium hydroxide, which fades on the addition 
of an excess of acetic acid. Furthermore, upon the addition of either 
sulphuric acid or hydrochloric acid, the contents are colored yellow- 



676 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

ish-green, finally changing to brownish-black. Nitric acid produces 
a yellowish-brown color. The addition of ferric chloride to the pow- 
der colors some of the fragments greenish-black. Outer epidermal 
layer of the involucral scales consist of (a), polygonal cells, having a 
striated cuticle; (b), numerous T-hairs consisting of a 2-celled stalk 
and a horizontal needle-shaped unicellular summit; (c), sessile glan- 
dular hairs, having a 2- to 8-celled secreting head. Fragments of 
pistil show club-shaped, sessile, glandular hairs; small prisms of 
calcium oxalate; and brownish-resin canals. Fragments of corolla 
show elongated outer epidermal cells, having a striated cuticle, and a 
few stomata, the latter being surrounded by 4 or 5 accompanying 
cells. Inner epidermal cells of the corolla modified to papillae, the 
walls on surface view polygonal, the summit of the papillae appearing 
as irregular circular central folds from which radiate the cuticular 
folds or striations. The vascular bundles of the scales show lignified 
sclerenchymatous cells and fibers. Fragments of achene show color- 
less thin-walled cells of pericarp and rectangular, thick-walled, porous 
and strongly lignified cells of the seed-coat, also a long, brown resin 
canal, extending throughout the entire length of achene. 

Constituents. — Insect flowers contain from a trace to 0.5 
per cent of a volatile oil, the Persian flowers containing the larger 
proportion, and the amount decreasing with the maturing of the 
flowers. They also contain two resins, varying from 4 to 7 per cent, 
the larger amount being found in the Dalmatian flowers; a small 
quantity of a glucoside and a volatile acid. 

The toxic principle is Pyrethron, an amber-yellow, syrupy 
substance which is the ester of certain unidentified acids, and on 
saponification yields the alcohol pyrethrol which crystallizes in fine 
needles. The acids combined in the ester pyrethron do not give 
crystalline salts. 

Allied Plants. — A large number of plants have been used as 
insecticides. A list of these with reference to literature are given by 
Roark (Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1919, 91, p. 25 and 91). 

Adulteration. — The flowers of one or more of the Composite are 
substituted for or admixed with the genuine insect flowers. Of these 
the following may be mentioned: Common field or ox-eye daisy 
(Chrysanthemum Leucanthemum) ; and the yellow immortelle or 
everlasting (Helichrysum arenarium). It is stated that sometimes 
the entire stem with leaves are ground up with the flowers. Pow- 
dered insect flowers, which are bright yellow in color, have usually 
added to them powdered curcuma or chrome yellow ( chroma te of 
lead). 



GRINDELIA 677 

Literature. — Hanausek and Winton, The Microscopy of Tech- 
nical Products, p. 310; Sievers, Pharm. Era, 1918, 51, p. 121; Faes, 
Schweiz. Apoth. Ztg., 1918, 56, p. 429. 

Grindelia. — The leaves and flowering tops of Grindelia squarrosa, 
G. camporum and G. cuneifolia (Fam. Compositse) , perennial herb 
of western North America. Grindelia robusta, or gum plant grow- 
ing on the borders of California and Mexico and extending to Minne- 
sota and in British America from Manitoba to the Saskatchewan; 
Grindelia camporum, the common gum plant of California, is found 
extensively in the western and central portion of California; Grindelia 
cuneifolia and its variety palugosa is indigenous to the marshes of 
upper California. Grindelia is collected in early summer, when the 
leaves and flowering tops are covered with a resinous exudation, and 
dried. 

Grindelia Squarrosa. — Stem cylindrical, lemon-yellow or rose- 
colored, 2 to 3 mm. in diameter, longitudinally wrinkled, glandular- 
hairy, nearly glabrous, resinous; internodes 8 to 35 mm. in length. 
Leaves oblong or linear-lanceolate, from 1 to 5 cm. in length; summit 
acute; base sessile or amplexicaul; margin entire or spinosely 
toothed; upper surface light green or yellowish-green, covered with 
resin and with occasional black disks of a species of Puccinia; under 
surface grayish-green, somewhat resinous; texture somewhat coria- 
ceous, brittle when dry. Heads many-flowered, truncate-conical or 
depressed urceolate, about 1 to 2 cm, in diameter, with numerous 
lanceolate-acuminate, imbricate and resinous involucral bracts having 
more or less recurved tips; torus flat, deeply pitted; ray-flowers 
brownish-yellow and pistillate; tubular flowers yellowish-brown, 
perfect. Achenes slightly curved, 4-angled, about 3 mm. in length, 
commonly (but not always) corky-thickened and having a broad 
truncate summit, those toward the center narrower and thinner 
walled and with smaller areola; odor, aromatic; taste, aromatic 
and bitter. 

Grindelia Camporum. — The leaves are broadly oblong or spatulate 
and shorter than those of G. squarrosa; the achenes are distinctly 
crescent-shaped and bi-auriculate at the summit. 

Grindelia Cuneifolia. — The leaves are cuneate-oblong, from 2 to 10 
cm. in length, having a very distinct midrib and a sheathing amplex- 
icaul base. They are also less coriaceous and of a dark green or 
greenish-brown color. The stigmas are very long, acute and pubes- 
cent and the achenes are bi-auriculate. 

Inner Structure — See Fig. 298. 

Powder. — Light greenish-brown or yellowish-brown; especially 



678 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



characteristic are the groups of broadly elliptical stomata about 
0.035 mm. in length, having wide pores, which project above the leaf 
surface; and the depressed, multicellular, glandular hairs, having an 
irregular, ellipsoidal summit, about 0.065 mm. in diameter; cells of 
mesophyll spheroidal, filled with large chloroplasts, and about 0.010 




Fig. 298.— Scaly Grindelia (Grindelia squarrosa). Flowering plants showing the 
oblong, sharply serrate, sessile leaves; and the heads, composed of numerous 
imbricated, squarrosely tipped or spreading scales, the yellow ligulate, ray 
florets directed upwards, and the central cone of numerous tubular florets. — 
From Bulletin 219, Bureau of Plant Industry, U. S. Department of Agri- 
culure. 



mm. in diameter; large, somewhat elongated, thick-walled, colorless 
cells of water-storage tissue, mounts in glycerin usually show the pre- 
cipitation of a granular resinous mass, and acicular or narrow rod- 
shaped crystals; pollen grains, spheroidal, about 0.035 mm. in 
diameter, having 3 pores and a spinose cuticle; stem fragments 



BONESET 679 

showing tracheae having annular and spiral thickenings and simple 
or bordered pores, associated with numerous narrow, strongly lig- 
nified wood fibers; pith cells more or less tabular and containing a 
layer of protoplasm in which are embedded numerous spheroidal 
granules. 

Constituents. — Resinous substances amounting to about 21 per 
cent, including a soft greenish resin soluble in petroleum ether, a 
dark-colored resin soluble in ether and a dark-colored, amorphous 
resin soluble in alcohol; a lsevorotatory sugar 1-glucose; tannin 1.5 
per cent; a volatile oil having the characteristic odor or the drug; 
and about 8 per cent of ash. The drug has also been reported to 
contain two glucosides, 0.8 per cent. (G. squarrosa) to 2 per cent 
(G. robusta), somewhat resembling the saponins in quillaja and sen- 
ega; and a bitter crystalline alkaloid, grindeline. 

Allied Plants. — Other species of Grindelia growing in the western 
United States and Mexico are similarly employed, as G. hirsutula, 
the stems of which are purplish-red and pubescent; and G. glu- 
tinosa, in which the leaves are glabrous, rounded at the summit, 
the pappus being 5- to 8-toothed. 

Literature. — Perredes, Proc. A. Ph. A., 1906, p. 370; Power 
and Tutin, Ibid., 1905, p. 192, and 1907, p. 337. 

Eupatorium. — Boneset. — The leaves and flowering tops of 
Eupatorium perfoliatum (Fam. Compositse), a perennial herb 
(Fig. 300) indigenous to eastern and central North America. Bone- 
set is collected in July and August and dried. 

Description. — Usually in more or less broken fragments. Stem 
cylindrical, somewhat quadrangular, flattened, about 3 mm. in 
diameter, longitudinally wrinkled, tomentose; internodes 5 to 8 cm. 
in length. Leaves lanceolate, opposite, 10 to 20 cm. in length, 2 
to 4 cm. in breadth; summit acuminate; base connate-perfoliate; 
margin crenate-serrate ; upper surface dark green, midrib and 
veins depressed, reticulate, glabrous, except near the margin; under 
surface yellowish- or brownish-green, midrib prominent, reticulate, 
very tomentose, with glistening yellow resin masses. Flowers in large 
cymost panicles; heads 10- to 15-flowered, about 5 mm. in length, 
torus flat; involucre light green, oblong, the scales, imbricate, linear- 
lanceolate, hairy; corolla 5-toothed, whitish; anthers purplish, 
included; style deeply cleft, much exserted. Achenes 5-angled, 
pappus consisting of a single row of about twenty rough bristles; 
odor aromatic ; taste bitter. 

Inner Structure. — In the leaves, the epidermal cells are undulate, 
especially on the dorsal surface, the stomata being slightly raised 



680 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




f'iG. 299. — Grindelia squarrosa: A, transverse section of a portion of the stem, 
showing a large resin canal bordering on the endodermis (End). B, trans- 
verse section of a portion of a leaf showing the epidermal cells (Ep), and a 
large sessile glandular hair, in the depressed epidermal layer. C, surface 
view of a glandular hair, situated in a wide cavity of the epidermis. D, 
surface view of the epidermal cells from the dorsal surface of the leaf, showing 
a small group of stomata. E, transverse section of the dorsal layers of the 
leaf, showing the epidermal cells (Ep), having thick outer walls and 2 of the 
stomata; palisade cells (P); and part of the water-storage tissue (A). F, 
transverse section of part of a midrib of the leaf; Coll, collenchyma; B, a 
resin canal; St, the stereomatic pericycle. — After Holm, Merck's Report, 
1910, p. 310. 



EUPATORIUM 



681 



above the adjoining epidermis and without subsidiary cells; the 
non-glandular hairs are of 2 kinds: (a), uniseriate and filiform; 
(6), uniseriate, thick-walled, pointed and more or less curved; 
glandular hairs short, and capitate; the mid-vein is composed of 3 
separate mestome strands, surrounded by large thin-walled water- 
storage tissue. Resin canals are formed in the vicinity of the endo- 
dermis in both the stem and leaves. 







Fig. 300. — 1. Eupatorium perfoliatum with opposite, connate-perfoliate leaves 
and cymose-paniculate inflorescence. 2. Eupatorium purpureum with 
verticillate, petiolate leaves, and a large terminal panicle of flowers. 



Powder. — Dark green; non-glandular hairs 2- to 8-celled, thin- 
walled, finely striate, (a) having an acute end cell and (6) having a 
rounded summit; glandular hairs either 6- to 8-celled in a doable 
row, and with a 2-celled glandular head, or short-stalked and with a 
4- to 12-celled glandular head; pollen grains ellipsoidal, 0.010 to 
0.020 mm. in diameter and with numerous centrifugal projections; 
pappus occurring as a multicellular axis about 0.030 mm. in diameter 



682 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

and with short, unicellular, alternate branches; tracheae spiral, 
annular, or with bordered pores; sclerenchymatous fibers thin- 
walled, non-lignified, having few, simple, oblique pores. 

Constituents. — Volatile oil; a bitter, crystalline glucoside, eupa- 
torin; resin; a crystalline wax; a glucosidal coloring principle related 
to tannin but crystallizing in small yellow needles, and giving an 
orange-red precipitate with lead acetate solution; a glucosidal 
tannin, which is colored deep green with ferric chloride and gives a 
yellow precipitate with lead acetate solution; gallic acid; ash 7.5 
to 9.9 per cent. 

Allied Plants. — Purple boneset or Joe-pye weed (Eupatorium 
purpureum), a common herb (Fig. 370) in low grounds in eastern and 
central North America, is a tall stout herb, with oblong-lanceolate 
leaves, 3 to 6 in a whorl and light purplish-red flowers in dense 
corymbs. Purple boneset contains a volatile oil, 0.07. per cent; a 
yellow crystalline principle euparin, which somewhat resembles 
quercitrin; resin, 0.25 per cent; calcium oxalate, 1.82 per cent; and 
ash, 14 per cent. Dog-fennel (E. famiculaceum), a perennial herb, 
with alternate, 1- to 2-pinnately parted leaves and white flowers, 
which is common in the Southern States, yields a volatile oil which 
contains considerable phellandrene. 

The root of Eupatorium perfoliatum contains about 5 per cent of 
inulin. 

Literature.— Holm, Merck's Report, 1908, p. 326. 

Absinthium. — Common Wormwood or Absinth. — The leaves 
and flowering tops of Artemisia Absinthium (Fam. Composite), a 
shrubby, perennial herb, growing in waste places in the northern 
United States and Canada. It is cultivated in Europe, northern 
Africa, New York, Michigan, Nebraska and Wisconsin. The vola- 
tile oil is used in the preparation of the French Absinthe. The leaves 
and flowering tops are gathered during the summer or early fall, 
carefully dried and preserved. 

Description. — Leaves from 5 to 12 cm. in length, 2- to 3-pin- 
nately divided, the lobes being obovate or lanceolate, entire or 
toothed, the lower being long petiolate; heads greenish-yellow, 
hemispherical or ovoid and arranged in panicles, the involucral 
scales being in 2 series, the inner linear and having membranous 
margins, the florets are all tubular, the outer ones sometimes being 
neutral. The herb is aromatic and very bitter. 

Inner Structure. — Non-glandular hairs of 2 kinds: (a), uni- 
cellular, very long; (6), T-hairs consisting of a 1- to 4-celled stalk, 
bearing a single horizontal cell at the summit; glandular hairs having 



YARROW 683 

a 1- or 2-celled stalk, and a glandular summit consisting of 4 to 8 
cells; pollen grains spheroidal, about 0.030 mm. in diameter, nearly 
smooth, and having 3 pores; calcium oxalate in rosette aggregates 
about 0.010 mm. in diameter; tracheae either spiral or having 
simple pores, associated with slightly thickened, lignified, porous 
libriform. 

Constituents. — The fresh drug contains about 0.5 per cent of a 
volatile oil which is of a dark green or blue color, has a bitter, per- 
sistent taste but not the pleasant odor of the plant, and consists of 
d-thumone (absinthol), thujyl alcohol, free and combined with 
acetic, iso valerianic and palmitic acids, phellandrene and cadinene. 
The other constituents of the drug include a bitter glucosidal prin- 
ciple, absinthiin, which forms white prisms and yields on hydrolysis 
a volatile oil; a resin; starch; tannin; succinic acid, potassium suc- 
cinate, and about 7 per cent of ash. 

Achillea. — Yarrow or Milfoil. — The leaves and flowering tops 
of Achillea Millefolium (Fam. Composite), a common roadside 
weed (Fig. 301), naturalized from Europe and Asia, and contains 
about 0. 1 per cent of a dark blue volatile oil with a strongly aromatic 
odor and a small amount of a bitter alkaloid, achilleine. The roots 
of yarrow, on the other hand, yield a volatile oil with a valerian-like 
odor. 

Achillea Nobilis of Europe contains an oil resembling that of 
yarrow, but it is of finer quality and has a spice-like taste. Achillea 
moschata, an alpine plant of Europe, yields three alkaloids and a 
volatile oil containing cineol, and is used in Italy in the preparation 
of the liquor, " Esprit d'lva." Achillea tanacetifolia yields a blue 
volatile oil having the odor of tansy. 

Tanacetum. — Tansy. — The leaves and flowering tops of Tana- 
cetum vulgare (Fam. Composite), a perennial aromatic herb (Fig. 
302), indigenous to Europe, extensively cultivated and naturalized 
in the United States. The leaves are large and pinnately divided, 
and the flowers, both tubular and ligulate, are yellow, the heads being 
in terminal corymbs. 

The powder is yellowish-green; non-glandular hairs few, 4- to 
5-celled, about 0.150 mm. in length, the individual cells being some- 
what oblong and with yellowish-brown contents; glandular hairs 
on achenes with short stalk and large, ellipsoidal head; involucral 
bracts with a row of transparent marginal cells and central portion 
with narrow, thick-walled, libriform cells having numerous simple 
pores; .pollen grains spheroidal, thick-walled and with numerous 
spinose, centrifugal projections; narrow tracheae having scalariform 



684 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 




Fig. 301. — Achillea Millefolium . Common yarrow. A very common hardy 
weed, persisting along roadsides and waste places when nearly all other vege- 
tation is destroyed. Although not flowering until June the leaves are among 
the first to emerge from the ground in the early spring. Stems simple, occa- 
sionally branched above; leaves lanceolate in outline, pinnately dissected; 
flowers white to crimson, in compound, flat-topped corymbs. The generic 
name alludes to the supposition that Achilles discovered the virtues of the 
plant, and the specific name alludes to the numerous divisions of the leaf. — 
After Brown. 



TANSY 



685 



and reticulate perforations or bordered pores; sclerenchymatous 
fibers thin-walled and free from pores. 

Tansy yields from 0.1 to 0.3 per cent of a volatile oil, consisting 
of thujone, borneol and camphor; and also contains 3 resins. 



Hu 


t^MI 


BMP' 


m. '■:*■/&* 














r#*^ 





Fig. 302. — Branch of Tansy (Tanacetum vulgare) showing closely alternating, 
deeply pinnatifid or pinnately divided leaves, the divisions being linear, 
oblong and variously lobed and incised. 



Folia Fakfaile.- 
silago Farfara (Fam. 



-Tussilago or Colts Foot. — The leaves of Tus- 
Compositse), a low perennial or acaulescent 



herb, indigenous to Europe and growing in wet places and along 



686 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

roadsides in the northern United States and Canada. The varie- 
gated variety, the leaves of which have a creamy white margin, is a 
common ornamental plant, thriving in shady places. The leaves 
are gathered in June and July, after the flowering of the plant, 
carefully dried and preserved. 

Description. — Usually in broken pieces; leaves ovate-reniform, 
long petiolate, from 8 to 15 cm. in length; summit acute, base 
cordate, margin angulately lobed, and dentate having reddish-brown 
teeth; ventral surface, dark green and glabrous; dorsal surface white 
tomentose, having prominent 5 to 9 palmate- veins; odor slight; 
taste mucilaginous and slightly bitter. 

Inner Structure. — Epidermal cells of dorsal surface polygonal, 
the cuticle being finely papillose; epidermal cells of the ventral sur- 
face undulate, having numerous stomata and hairs; non-glandular 
hairs unicellular consisting of 3 to 6 cells, the upper cells being very 
long, irregularly twisted and matted together; very characteristic 
are the 6-sided intercellular spaces beneath the broadly elliptical 
stomata, which are about 0.050 mm. in width. 

Constituents. — A small quantity of volatile oil; about 2.6 per 
cent of a bitter glucoside; a caoutchouc-like substance; mucilage; 
gallic acid; dextrin; about 6.2 per cent of albuminous substances; 
and ash from 15 to 20 per cent. 

Literature. — Meyer, Wissenchaftliche Drogenkunde, Vol. II., 
p. 216. 

Pyrethrum. — Pellitory. — The root of Anacylus Pyrethrum (Fam. 
Composite), a perennial herb indigenous to northern Africa and 
southern Europe, the commercial article coming from Algeria. The 
root is collected in autumn and dried. 

Description. — Nearly cylindrical, slightly tapering, or broken 
into irregular pieces, 2.5 to 10 cm. in length, 3 to 20 mm. in diameter; 
externally dark brown, wrinkled and somewhat furrowed longitu- 
dinally, with few rootlets or rootlet-scars ; crown somewhat annulate 
from scars of bud-scales, and sometimes tufted with coarse fibers of 
fibrovascular tissue or having long, soft-woolly, nearly straight, one- 
celled hairs; fracture short and horny when dry, tough when damp; 
bark dark brown internally, with two circular rows of resin canals, 
0.5 to 1 mm. in thickness, and closely adhering to the light yellow, 
radiate, porous wood, in the medullary rays of which resin canals 
are also found; odor distinct, penetrating; taste pungent, acrid. 

Powder. — Light to dark brown; parenchymatous cells with 
irregular crystalloidal masses of inulin; periderm having nearly 
isodiametric stone cells, the contents of which are yellowish-brown; 



DANDELION G87 

tracheae reticulate, narrow ; sclerenchymatous fibers few ; resin canals 
containing yellowish-brown amorphous masses of a volatile oil and 
resin. 

Constituents. — An alkaloid pyrethrine, which occurs in colorless, 
acicular crystals, has an intense pungent taste, and which is decom- 
posed by alkalies into piperidine (a pungent principle occurring in 
black pepper) and pyrethric acid, a principle resembling piperic acid. 
Pyrethrum also contains a brown acrid resin, two other acrid resins, 
a volatile oil and about 50 per cent of inulin. 

Allied Plants. — German pellitory, the root of Anacj^clus officin- 
arum, is smaller; the bark contains but one row of secretion reservoirs, 
which are wanting in the medullary rays; and the roots contain 
tannin in addition to the constituents found in Pyrethrum. 

Taraxacum. — Dandelion. — The root of Taraxacum officinale 
(Fam. Composite), a perennial herb indigenous to Europe and Asia, 
but now naturalized in all civilized parts of the world. The root 
should be collected in spring or in autumn either directly before or 
after the vegetative activity of the plant. It is used in either the 
fresh or dried condition, the principal supply of the dried root coming 
from Europe. The pith of the rhizome portion is liable to be attacked 
by insects. The product should be stored in tightly closed con- 
tainers, to which a few drops of chloroform or a carbon tetrachloride 
should be added, from time to time, to prevent the development of 
insects. 

Description. — Somewhat cylindrical, tapering, more or less 
flattened, slightly branched or broken into irregular pieces 6 to 15 
cm. in length, 5 to 15 mm. in diameter; externally light brown, 
wrinkled, with numerous rootlet-scars; crown simple or branched 
slightly annulate from numerous leaf -bases; fracture short, horny 
when dry, tough when damp; internally, bark light brown, 2 to 6 
mm. in thickness, made up of concentric layers of laticiferous vessels 
and sieve alternating with white parenchyma, wood lemon-yellow, 1 to 
4 mm. in thickness, porous and non-radiate; odor slight; taste bitter. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 303. 

Powder. — Light brown; parenchyma containing irregular crys- 
talloidal masses of inulin; laticiferous vessels yellowish-brown; 
tracheae reticulate; intermediate fibers non-lignified, with irregular 
simple and oblique pores. 

Adulterant. — The roots of one or more species of Lactuca have 
been substituted. The wood is radiate, the tracheae being one cell 
wide alternating with medullary rays two or three cells in width. 
(Ui S. Dept. Agric.) 



688 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



Constituents. — A bitter, amorphous, dark-colored substance; 
inulin about 25 per cent; a volatile oil; an enzyme; levulose; 
choline; p-hydroxyphenylacetic acid; 3 : 4-dihydroxycinnamic acid; 




Fig. 303. — Taraxacum: A, transverse section of root showing cork (k), paren- 
chyma containing inulin (p), laticiferous vessels {I), phloem groups (s) com- 
posed of sieve and laticiferous vessels, cambium (c), tracheae (t), modified, 
non-lignified wood fibers (Ersatzfasern) (w). B, longitudinal section of 
xylem showing several of the reticulate tracheae and the modified wood fibers 
with oblique pores that are apparent in preparations, made with chlor-zinc- 
iodide. C, longitudinal section of a phloem group showing branching laticif- 
erous vessels (0, sieve cells (s), and parenchyma (p) containing sphere 
crystals of inulin. 



a mixture of fatty acids; two new monohydric alcohols, taraxas- 
terol and homotaraxasterol ; and a substance which had been desig- 



CHICORY 689 

nated " cluytianol " (see Cluytia similis, p. 401), but which appa- 
rently is a phytosterol glucoside. 

Literature. — Power, Jour. Chem. Sec, 1912, p. 2411. 

Cichorium. — Chicory, Succory or Blue Dandelion Root. — 
The rhizome and roots of Cichorium Intybus (Fam. Composite), 
a perennial herb, indigenous to Europe and localized throughout the 
northern United States and Canada. The rhizome, with its continu- 
ation, the root, is upright, fusiform, and deep seated. They are 
gathered in the autumn and cut transversely to facilitate drying. 
The product should be stored in tightly closed containers, to which a 
few drops of chloroform or carbon tetrachloride should be added, 
from time to time, to prevent the development of insects. 

Chicory somewhat resembles Taraxacum, but the outer surface 
is light or dark brown, and irregularly, often spirally wrinkled; 
the inner surface shows a thick bark, having radiating strands of 
phloem; a yellowish wood having narrow radiating medullary 
rays, and xylem wedges with broad tracheae. 

Chicory, when ground, is used as a substitute for coffee. The 
fragments are irregular, dark brown in color, soft and having a sweet- 
ish taste. When placed in water, the fragments sink, imparting to 
the solution a yellowish-brown color. Under the microscope the 
fragments show irregular masses of inulin in the parenchyma cells; 
branching latex vessels from 0.005 to 0.010 mm. in width; tracheae 
short, more or less cylindrical, with pointed ends, from 0.100 to 0.200 
mm. in length and 0.020 to 0.040 mm. in width, having large, ellip- 
tical, simple pores. Associated with the tracheae are slightly thick- 
ened, elongated parenchyma cells with narrow, oblique pores. 

Chicory is sometimes adulterated with the roots of dandelion, 
carrot, beet and turnip, as well as cereal products. — Winton and 
Moeller, Microscopy of Vegetable Foods, p. 438. 

Inula. — Elecampane. — The rhizome and roots of Inula Helenium 
(Fam. Compositae), a large perennial herb, indigenous to central 
Europe and Asia, and naturalized from Canada to North Carolina. 
The rhizome with branching roots, of 2- or 3-year old plants, are col- 
lected, either in the spring or fall, cut longitudinally, carefully 
dried and preserved. Sometimes the roots are cut transversely and 
occasionally the outer corky layers are removed. 

Description. — When entire fusiform, irregularly branching, the 
crown being somewhat annulate and surmounted by a stem scar, 
the lower portion being longitudinally wrinkled; the pieces, very 
irregular in shape, varying in length from 3 to 8 cm., and 0.6 to 4 cm. 
in diameter; externally light to dark brown, longitudinally wrinkled, 



690 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

with short roots or circular root scars, and occasionally having the 
cork more or less abraded, showing a grayish-white cortex; inner 
surface of the longitudinal pieces, either flattened or shallow, light 
brown or grayish-brown, longitudinally striate and showing a more 
or less distinct, dark brown cambium; fracture tough, horny and 
somewhat uneven; inner surface light brown, showing a distinct 
cambium and numerous large resin canals in both the xylem and 
cortex; odor distinct, aromatic; taste sweetish, aromatic, slightly 
acrid and pungent. 

Inner Structure. — Rhizomes occasionally show the characteristic, 
uniseriate hairs of the epidermis (Fig. 304) ; periderm usually narrow, 
consisting of somewhat rectangular, thin-walled brownish cells; 
cortex of inulin-containing parenchyma, the inner layers having 
radial strands of phloem, consisting of leptome and parenchyma, 
separated by broad medullary rays, containing spheroidal resin 
canals (Fig. 304), the latter from 0.100 to 0.200 mm. in diameter, 
the canals being lined with thin-walled epithelial cells; cambium 
distinct ; xylem consisting of radiating wedges, composed of numerous 
parenchyma cells and a few tracheae and wood fibers, separated by 
broad medullary rays, interspersed with resin canals similar to 
those in the cortex ; pith composed of inulin-containing parenchyma. 

In thick rhizomes, the xylem occurs in a broad continuous ring 
consisting of numerous, thick-walled and strongly lignified wood 
fibers, surrounding the tracheae, and in the cortex there is a strong 
development of bast fibers, in the form of semi-circular groups, out- 
side the strands of leptome. 

The roots show a similar structure to the rhizome, but the primary 
tracheae are associated with elongated thin-walled, lignified cells, 
having reticulate perforations. 

In the intercellular spaces, between the parenchyma cells, occur 
occasionally a yellowish-brown or brownish-black carbon-like sub- 
stance, termed phytomelane. For further discussion of this subject, 
with illustrations, consult Kraemer's Applied and Economic Botany, 
pp. 258-261. 

Powder. — Very light brown; on boiling with water it emits a 
distinct aromatic, pepper-like odor, distinguishing it from bella- 
donna; inulin (Fig. 304), in parenchyma cells, mostly in the form 
of separate, irregular, colorless granules, varying from 0.010 to 0.030 
mm. in diameter; fragments of yellowish-brown or reddish-brown 
resin masses; tracheae having narrow lumina and large elliptical 
perforations, occasionally bordered pores; wood fibers very narrow, 
strongly lignified and marked by numerous simple pores; fragments 



INULA 



of cork rectangular or somewhat polygonal, and having relatively 
thin brownish-walls, the cells usually containing a granular cyto- 
plasm and a nucleus; small groups of narrow, elongated sclerenchy- 
matous fibers; fragments of resin canals with thin-walled epithelial 
cells. 




Fig 



304. — Elecampane (Inula Helenium): A, one of the smaller leaves near the 
inflorescence. B, under surface of the leaf. C, hairs of leaf. D, transverse 
section of petiole showing parenchyma (p), lignified bast fibers (6), sieve (s), 
tracheae (t), and somewhat thickened cells of wood (w). E, F, G, successive 
stages in the development of the intercellular or schizogenous oleo-resin 
canals of very young roots. H, sphere-crystals of inulin as seen in the root 
after treatment with alcohol. /, single sphere-crystal. 



Constituents. — Inulin from 35 to 45 per cent; from 1 to 2 per 
cent of alantol, a crystalline or somewhat oily substance, consisting 
chiefly of alantolacton and small quantities of alantolic acid, alantol 



692 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



camphor and isoalantolacton; a bitter principle ; mucilage; inulenin; 
and pseudoinulin. 

Adulteration. — Through carelessness, belladonna root is some- 
times substituted for inula. The former is characterized in contain- 




Fig. 305. — Burdock (Arctium Lappa) showing large basal leaf, a flowering branch, 
and at the lower left-hand corner a few of the burs on which a bat has been 
caught and apparently held until it died. 



ing starch and having a distinct heavy odor (see Belladonnse Radix). 

Lappa. — Burdock. — The root of Arctium Lappa and of other 

species of Arctium (Fam. Composite), biennial herbs (Fig. 305) 

indigenous to Europe and northern Asia, and naturalized in waste 



BURDOCK 693 

places in the United States and Canada. The fleshy root is collected 
in autumn from plants of the first or second year's growth, and care- 
fully dried. 

Description. — Nearly cylindrical, slightly tapering, or broken 
and split longitudinally into pieces, 10 to 20 cm. in length, 5 to 20 
mm. in diameter; externally, bark dark brown, longitudinally 
wrinkled, with few rootlets or rootlet-scars, crown somewhat annulate 
from scars of bud-scales and sometimes surmounted by a soft, woolly 
tuft of leaf -remains having unicellular, twisted hairs; fracture short, 
horny when dry, tough when damp; internally light brown, radiate, 
bark 2 to 3 mm. in thickness, wood porous, cambium zone distinct; 
odor slight; taste mucilaginous, slightly bitter. 

Old woody roots in which the pith is more or less obliterated 
and which have been collected from the fruiting plant should be 
rejected. 

Inner Structure. — Periderm consisting of thin-walled, brownish, 
rectangular cork cells; cortex consisting of inulin-containing paren- 
chyma, the inner layer having narrow strands of leptome; cambium 
distinct; xylem composed of narrow wedges, made up mostly of 
wood parenchyma, and a few thin-walled wood fibers and wide 
tracheae, separated by broad medullary rays; the wood paren- 
chyma and medullary rays contain inulin in the form of highly refrac- 
tive, irregular masses, varying from 0.006 to 0.045 mm. in length; 
tracheae from 0.050 to 0.150 mm. in width, and marked by numerous 
narrow, simple pores, and occasionally accompanied by narrow thin- 
walled wood fibers. Tissues of the pericycle and primarj^ cortex 
are commonly seen in the outer layers of the bark. The outer cor- 
tical region of young roots, shows an interrupted circle of resin canals, 
which are wanting in older roots. 

Powder. — Light yellow; parenchymatous cells with irregular 
crystalloidal masses of inulin ; trachea? few, having long slit-like 
simple pores occasionally associated with a few narrow sclerenchy- 
matous fibers. 

Constituents. — Inulin about 45 per cent; about 0.07 per cent of 
a volatile oil; a bitter principle; about 0.04 per cent of a fixed oil; 
tannic acid; mucilage; a sugar; and ash, about 5 per cent. 

The fruits of Lappa contain a bitter crystalline alkaloid, lappine; 
1.15 per cent of a resin; and 15.4 per cent of a fight yellow fixed oil. 
— Trimble and Macfarland, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1885, p. 127. 

Arnica Radix. — Arnicae Rhizoma Arnica Root. — The rhizome 
and roots of Arnica montana (see Arnica flores) . The well-developed, 
rather fleshy rhizomes are gathered in the fall and carefully dried. 



694 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Description. — Rhizome horizontal or oblique; cylindrical, more 
or less curved and sometimes S-shaped; from 2 to 10 cm. in length 
and 0.5 to 5 mm. in thickness, externally reddish- or purplish-brown, 
somewhat annulate from scars of bud scales; upper surface having 
short stem bases, lower and under portions with numerous long coarse 
roots; fracture short; cortex grayish-white, about 0.075 mm. in 
diameter and having a circle of resin canals, wood yellow about 0.300 
mm. in width, pith white, large; odor distinct; taste pungent, bitter 
and acrid. 

Roots grayish- or purplish-brown, unbranched, more or less 
curved or frequently S-shaped, varying from 3 to 15 cm. in length 
and 0.5 to 1 mm. in thickness; longitudinally or somewhat spirally 
wrinkled; fracture short, somewhat tough. 

Inner Structure. — Periderm consisting of a few layers of brownish 
cork cells, and usually containing brownish amorphous masses; 
cortex of inulin-containing parenchyma, having in the inner bark 
an interrupted circle of large resin canals, which often contain a 
yellowish-brown amorphous substance, either within the epithelial 
cells or lining the cavity of the canal; fibrovascular bundles collateral, 
consisting of narrow, hemispherical strands of leptome and paren- 
chyma, and conical plates of xylem composed of numerous, narrow 
tracheae and wood parenchyma and usually having a middle layer 
of libriform; medullary rays broad, the cells containing inulin; 
pith composed of nearly spheroidal, inulin-containing parenchyma 
cells, which are separated by large intercellular spaces. 

Constituents. — From 0.5 to 1 per cent of a volatile oil, consisting 
chiefly of the methyl ether of hydrothymoquinone and the phloryl 
ester of isobutyric acid, also the methyl ether of a phlorol. In addi- 
tion, Arnica rhizome contains an amorphous substance, arnicin; 
about 10 per cent of inulin; tannic acid; gum; wax; several organic 
acids; and ash from 8 to 15 per cent. 

Adulterants. — The rhizome and roots of a number of other drugs 
are sometimes substituted for arnica. These are distinguished by 
the absence of resin canals. — Consult Zornig, Arzneidrogen, Vol. I., 
p. 444. 

Echinacea. — The rhizome and roots of Brauneria angustifolia 
and B. pallida (Fam. Composite), perennial herbs; the former being 
the purple cone-flower of the southwestern United States and the 
latter occurring throughout the central United States and extensively 
cultivated, and known as the cone-flower. The rhizomes are col- 
lected from well-developed plants in the autumn and carefully 
dried. 






ECHINACEA 



695 



Description. — Nearly entire, cylindrical, very slightly tapering, 
10 to 20 cm. in length, 4 to 8 mm. in diameter; externally, grayish 
brown, light brown or purolish-brown, slightly annulate in the upper 




Fig. 306. — An entire plant of Brauneria angustifolia showing the lanceolate 3- 
nerved leaves and the conical heads with reflexed ligulate, ray florets. — From 
Year Book, U. S. Department of Agriculture. 



portion, with occasional V-shaped stem scars, somewhat wrinkled 
longitudinally, or furrowed and occasionally slightly spirally twisted; 
fracture short, fibrous; internally, bark less than 1 mm. in thickness, 
wood thick and composed of alternate light yellowish and black 



696 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

wedges; the rhizome having a circular pith; odor faint, aromatic; 
taste sweetish, followed by an acrid and tingling sensation resembling 
that of aconite, but lacking the persistency and numbing qualities 
of the latter. 

Inner Structure. — See Fig. 307. 

Constituents. — Inulin 5.9 per cent; inuloid, 6 per cent; sucrose, 
7 per cent; vulose, 4 per cent; betaine, 0.1 per cent; resins, 1.9 per 
cent, consisting of 2 isomeric phytosterols; phytosterolin ; and the 
following fatty acids, oleic, linolic, cerotic and palmitic. Echinacea 
probably also contains a glucoside. 

Literature. — Kraemer and Sollenberger, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1911, 
p. 315; Heyl and Hart, Jour. Amer. Ohem. Soc, 1915, p. 1769. 

Senecio. — Golden Senecio or Ragwort, Life Root. — The over- 
ground plant of Senecio aureus (Fam. Composite), a perennial herb, 
growing in swamps and wet meadows throughout the northern and 
central United States. The leaves and flowering tops are gathered 
in the early summer and carefully dried. 

Description. — Consisting of a grop of bacid leaves and a leafy 
flowering scape. Basal leaves, orbicular or oblong, long petiolate, 
the lamina from 1 to 6 cm. in length, and 1 to 5 cm. in breadth; 
summit rounded, the base acute or cordate, the margin crenate- 
dentate; both surfaces olive-green or purplish-green, considerably 
wrinkled, glabrous, the mid-vein and lower veins of the first order 
prominent, the latter diverging at a very acute angle and uniting 
near the margin; petioles from 3 to 8 cm. in length, having 8 to 10 
prominent ribs, light brown and frequently covered at the base with 
soft woolly hairs. Flowering stalk from 15 to 40 cm. in length, 
having 8 to 10 prominent ribs, olive-green, when young, usually 
covered with soft woolly hairs, which are easily detachable, leaving 
the stems glabrous; leaves alternate, the upper sessile, the lower 
being petiolate, having a lanceolate outline and being usually lacin- 
iate-pinnatifid. Flowers, in open corymbs, the heads having slender 
peduncles which vary from 3 to 7 cm. in length; involucral scales, 
linear, erect-connivent ; ray florets 8 to 12 having golden yellow 
ligulate corollas; tubular florets yellow and perfect; achenes hairy 
and having a white pappus, about 6 mm. in length; odor distinct, 
aromatic; taste acrid and somewhat bitter and pungent. 

Inner Structure. — Epidermal cells of the lower surface having 
strongly undulate walls, the stomata being narrowly elliptical, about 
0.030 mm. in length, the neighboring cells being transverse to the 
pore; the cells of the upper surface resemble those of the lower sur- 
face, the walls, however, being only slightly undulate; transverse 



ECHINACEA 



697 




Fig. 307. — Echinacea: A, cross-section of outer layers of root, showing cork (c) 
and hypodermis (h). B, cross-section of cortex showing parenchyma (p), 
sphero-crystals of inulin (i), stone or sclerotic cells (s) and oleo-resin reser- 
voirs or canals (o). C, cross-section of portion of fibro vascular bundle 
showing leptome or sieve (I), cambium (m), trachea or vessels (t), oleo-resin 
canals (o), stone cells (s), parenchyma (p) and inulin crystals {%). D, cross- 
section near endodermis showing endodermal cells with suberized radial 
walls or Casparyan spots (e), endodermal resin canal (o), and parenchyma 
(p). E, cross -section of underground stem or rhizome showing a group of 
bast fibres (b), leptome or sieve (I), and parenchyma (p). F, a sclerotic or 
stone cell. G, parenchyma with sphero-crystals of inulin adhering to the 
walls. H, longitudinal section showing various forms of trachea or vessels; 
d, double spiral; a, annular; r, with simple pores; p, adjoining parenchyma. 



698 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

sections of the petiole are somewhat arrow-shaped, showing 2 to 4 
layers of sub-epidermal collenchyma and from 8 to 10 fibrovascular 
bundles; the stems show a strong development of collenchyma at 
the ribs, and the fibrovascular bundles are arranged in a closed ring, 
each being surrounded by a strong development of stereome, pith 
hollow ; woolly hairs of the stems and petioles very long thin-walled 
and from 0.015 to 0.040 mm. in width; non-glandular hairs on the 
leaves few, uniseriate about 0.250 mm. in length, and consisting of 
5 or 6 short, cylindrical cells, having thin walls and an oily content; 
achenes covered with club-shaped or spatulate hairs, about 0.180 mm. 
in length and finely transversely or obliquely striate; pappus multi- 
cellular, having at the jointed portions, short, sharp-pointed cells. 

Constituents. — The drug has not been subject to any careful 
investigation, but it may contain principles similar to those found in 
Senecio Jacobaea (see Allied Plants"). 

Allied Plants. — Senecio Jacobaea, indigenous to Europe and 
Asia and localized to some extent in the New England States and 
Canada, somewhat resembles Senecio aureus. It contains about 
10 per cent of a mixture of glucosides, senecionin and senecin; 2.5 
per cent of a volatile oil; 0.98 per cent of a fatty substance, soluble 
in ether; 0.88 per cent of a mixture of fatty acids; and 0.8 per cent 
of ash. 

Literature.— Altan, Pharm. Post, 1906, p. 485. 

Lactucarium. — The dried milk-juice of Lactuca virosa and other 
species of Lactuca (Fam. Composite), biennial herbs largely indigen- 
ous to central and southern Europe and cultivated in France, Eng- 
land and Germany, certain species being more or less naturalized in 
the United States. Lactucarium is obtained by cutting off the tops 
of the stems; and when the latex which exudes is partially hard- 
ened, it is collected and dried in hemispherical earthen cups until it 
can be cut into pieces, which are usually four in number, these being 
further dried. 

Description. — In irregular, angular pieces or quadrangular sec- 
tions, one surface of which is convex; externally dull reddish- or gray- 
ish-brown; fracture tough, waxy; internally light brown or yellow- 
ish, somewhat porous; odor distinct, opium-like; taste bitter. 

Lactucarium is partly soluble in alcohol and in ether, and about 
50 per cent is soluble in water, but the solution should not give a 
reaction for starch. 

Powder. — Grayish-brown and dark brown, irregular and rather 
angular masses; with alkalies they become reddish-brown and then 
a dirty brown; with sulphuric acid they are but slightly affected. 



COCHINEAL 699 

Constituents. — Three bitter principles: lactucin, which occurs in 
white rhombic prisms that are sparingly soluble in water; lactuco- 
picrin, a brown, amorphous, very bitter principle which is readily 
soluble in water and alcohol; and lactucic acid, a yellow, very bitter 
substance crystallizing with difficulty and colored red by alkalies. 
The drug also contains about 50 per cent of a colorless, odorless and 
tasteless crystalline principle, lactucerin (lactucon); 0- and a- 
lactucerol in the form of acetates; volatile oil; mannitol; organic 
acids, as citric, malic and oxalic, and 7 to 10 per cent of ash. 

A mydriatic alkaloid has been found in Lactuca virosa and in L. 
muralis. 

Dicoma Anomala. — A small plant (Fam. Composite), which is 
known in South Africa by the Kaffir name of in-nyongwane. A 
chemical examination showed it to consist of a small amount of an 
essential oil, a reducing sugar; a colorless, crystalline glucoside; 
a yellow amorphous product, which, on hydrolysis with alkali, gave 
3 : 4-dihydroxycinnamic acid; an amorphous alkaloid; hentria- 
contane; a phytosterol; and a mixture of fatty acids. The air- 
dried plant contained about 6 per cent of resinous material, from which 
a number of the above-mentioned substances were isolated. — Power, 
Pharm. Journ., 1913, p. 694. 

ANIMAL DRUGS 

A number of animal drugs are used in medicine and a few are 
official in all of the Pharmacopoeias. As a rule their study is much 
neglected by students of pharmacy and more attention should be 
given them, as they furnish some of the most important drugs 
used by man. Among the more valuable are cantharides, cochi- 
neal and musk. In certain instances more or less definite principles 
are isolated, as pepsin, the proteolytic ferment found in the stomach 
of the hog ; pancreatin, a mixture of enzymes existing in the pancreas 
of the hog and the ox; and wool fat, the purified fat of sheep's wool. 
During recent years very great interest has been manifested in the 
study of animal organs and a number are used either in the dried 
condition, or in the form of extracts, and in some cases, as from the 
suprarenal glands of the sheep, definite principles are extracted and 
employed. 

Coccus. — Cochineal. — The female insect enclosing her young 
larvae Coccus Cacti (Fam. Coccidae). The cochineal insect feeds 
upon various species of the Cactaceae, more especially the Nopa 
plant, Nopalea (Opuntia) coccinellifera, a native of Mexico and 



700 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Peru. It has spread into other parts of Central and South America 
and has been introduced into the West Indies, East Indies, Canary 
Islands, southern Spain, Algeria, and is said to be found in Florida 
and California. 

The female insect is without wings, about 2 mm. in length 
and consists of from 9 to 12 segments. It is somewhat globular, 
becoming later distinctly ovoid. In general appearance, as it 
creeps over the cactus stems, it is convex on the upper (dorsal) 
surface, and somewhat flattened or concave below. It is covered 
with a protective secretion or wax which is formed as a glandular 
secretion by the " wax pores " Fig. 308, w, and wax hairs. The 
antennae are rather short, consisting of 8 parts. The thread-like 
beak or proboscis, forming a sucking apparatus, is very fully devel- 
oped. There are 3 pairs of legs, which in the commercial article 
do not show more than 3 joints. Projecting from the posterior 
portion of the abdomen there are 2 short hairs or bristles, which are 
also wanting in the commercial article. 

The male is more elongated and ellipsoidal in outline and is 
provided with 2 perfectly transparent wings which reach beyond the 
extremity of the abdomen and cross each other longitudinally on the 
back. The head is distinguished from that of the female in being 
furnished with a rudimentary beak and with 2 long feathery anten- 
nae. It is said that the male insect is reproduced in large numbers; 
the larvae in the commercial cochineal does not show this to be the 
case. Upon performing their functions the male insects die and are 
blown away. They are therefore not present in the commercial 
article. 

Life History. — The female insect after fecundation grows larger 
as the young larvae develop, becoming eventually about twice her 
original size. She meanwhile attaches herself to the surface of the 
stems of the cacti, her body penetrating into the upper layer of cells. 
The upper or dorsal surface becomes more or less cartilaginous in 
structure and more or less convex in shape. The lower surface 
is drawn toward the upper surface and in this membranous cradle 
the larvae are developed. It requires about eight days for the larvae 
to become full grown, when they are said to resemble the parents 
with the exception that they are covered with a short hairy coating. 
In another week they attain maturity and the females of the new 
generation are ready to form broods in their turn. The life history 
of the cochineal insect is completed in about six weeks, two weeks 
being required for the development of the mature insect from the 
egg; during the next two weeks the female crawls over the fleshy 



COCHINEAL 



701 




Fig. 308. — Diagram of cochineal insect of commerce, showing an ovoid sac-like 
membranous cradle enclosing numerous young larvae (I) . Parts of the mother 
insect: m, mouth part; b, beak or proboscis; a, antennae; /, three pairs of 
legs; r, respiration channels or breathing pores; s, segments in abdominal 
region; w, wax-pores. 



702 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

stems of the cacti, the male in the meanwhile being able to fly about; 
then the female attaches herself to the tissues of the Nopal plants, 
her body becoming a membranous cradle for the larvae of the next 
generation, and after which she dies. From three to five generations 
of the cochineal insect may be produced in a single year. The first 
generation usually is richer in coloring matter and is considered 
the most valuable. It is estimated that from an area of about 
an acre of Nopal plants approximately 100 kilos of cochineal may 
be gathered; this would represent about 14,000,000 of the dried 
insects of commerce. The cochineal of commerce consists of the 
membranous cradle of the female which is removed by the 
planters from the Nopal plants. They are then subjected to 
steam or hot water and dried, or they may be dried by direct 
heat. 

Description. — The commercial article consists of small concavo- 
convex fragments about 5 mm. in length, and of a dark garnet color. 
When cleared 1 it shows the insect to be a hollow vesicle of an ovoid 
or plano-convex shape having in the upper portion some of the ~emains 
of the mother insect (Fig. 308). The mouth part with a more or 
less developed beak or rostrum is always present, the beak sometimes 
being extended and recurved in a narrow elliptical form in the direc- 
tion of the abdomen. One or both of the antennae are frequently 
present, showing 5 to 7 parts. The joints of the legs are usually 
more or less detached, the point of insertion usually only being 
indicated by large yellowish-brown elliptical scars. In between each 
of the legs on both sides are situated 2 distinct pores, resembling 
in form and color the point of attachment of the legs, and which 
are tracheae or respiration canals. In the abdominal region, which 

1 The following method is useful in destroying the coloring matter, rendering 
it possible to study the cochineal insect. A convenient quantity, as 10 gm., of 
commercial cochineal is macerated with 100 c.c. of water containing 2 or 3 per 
cent of an alkali. The mixture is allowed to stand for an hour or so, the contents 
being poured over a piece of wire gauze. The insects remain on the gauze and 
are then washed with a few litres of water. The insects, from which the coloring 
matter has been partly removed, are then transferred to 150 c.c. of hydrogen 
peroxide solution and allowed to stand for a few hours with occasional gentle 
stirring. The mixture is again transferred to the gauze, the excess of hydrogen 
peroxide being washed off and the insects transferred to a weak alkali solution in 
which they are macerated for six or eight hours. The mixture is poured upon the 
wire gauze and washed .. ith water until the filtrate runs practically colorless. 
The insects on the gauze are then transferred to dilute alcohol to which a few drops 
of hydrochloric acid have been added. This now renders them translucent and 
ready for microscopical study. They may be mounted in chloral solution or a 
solution of chloral and glycerin and examined. 



COCHINEAL 



703 



is very large, the larvae are borne (Fig. 308), and these usually are 
seen to be in several stages of development (Figs. 309 and 310). 





:M 


-X 






fi 




I 




..• . ■* 


4 




• 










^ - 










*-~ " •■ — ,:. 







Fig. 309. — Microphotograph of several of the numerous larvae found in the 
mother insect and in which are to be seen the characteristic beaks (6) ; and 
the three pairs of legs (/) still enclosed in the sac-like membrane of one of the 
larvae. 

Constituents. — From 9 to 10 per cent of a glucosidal, coloiin^ 
principle, carminic acid (carmine red). It is methyldioxy-naphtho- 



704 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

quinone, and forms crystals, which are very soluble in water, alcohol 
and ammonia; partly soluble in ether; and insoluble in fixed and 
volatile oils. Cochineal also contains 0.5 to 4.2 per cent of a wax, 
coccerin; from 1.5 to 2 per cent of myristin; from 4 to 6 per cent of 
a mixture of fats and fatty acids; and ash, from 0.5 to 6 per cent. 













-& M 








JSt 


S^SSt\ . s v 






Wm 


iCa$\y 




■■/ 




W,\ 


J 




f m /lE^Hf^l 


***W? ' 




i 


» ictjHR ■ ** 


Zffiffy* , 




df 


1 '»» 


> 






A 







Fig. 310. — Microphotograph of larva in cochineal insect of commerce showing: 
outspreading antennae (a) and feet (/); the characteristic beak or proboscis 
(b); and wax-hairs on the body (h). 

The carmin of commerce is a mixture of principles and is extremely 
subject to adulteration with inorganic salts. It should not yield 
more than 12 per cent of ash. 

Commercial Grades. — There is considerable variation in the 
quality of the commercial article, depending upon the locality in 
which the insects are cultivated, the crop of the season that is har- 



COCHINEAL 705 

vested and the manner in which the insects are killed. The most 
valuable variety is known as " Madres " and represents the first 
brood of the season. This corresponds to the variety formerly 
known as " Zacatillo," which was exported from Mexico. At one 
time Honduras shipped the best commercial article. At the present 
time, the greater quantity comes from Teneriffe, one of the Canary 
Islands. 

According to the fancy of the broker or exporter several grades 
of cochineal are recognized. Broadly speaking, the terms " Silver 
grain," " black grain," and " granilla " are used, but there are inter- 
mediate qualities variously designated as gray, black-gray, silver- 
gray, silver-black, rosy-black, red and foxy and these again may be 
qualified by the terms fair, bold, fine and so forth. The commercial 
variety known as " granilla " represents probably nothing more than 
the smaller females in which the larvae usually show but a very slight 
development. The color is due to the mode of preparation for the 
market. If dried in trays in the sun, or in an oven at a moderate 
temperature (about 65° C.) for four or five hours, and subsequently 
in the sun, the waxy substance is not melted and the silver grain is 
the result. If they are dried at a higher temperature than 106° C, 
the melting point of the wax on hot iron plates, the black-grain is 
the result. The red tint of the rosy-black is said to be produced if 
they are put in bags and dipped in boiling water to kill them before 
drying, and that of the foxy silver grain is produced by sifting the 
insects when not perfectly dry so that some of the coloring matter 
tinges the surface. The black grain usually obtains a higher price 
than the silver grain. Both the black and silver grain are some- 
times adulterated to meet the demand for a cheap article. The 
black grain is sometimes met with having the concave side filled with 
grains of a magnetic iron sand. The silver grain is said to be weighted 
with sulphate of barium or carbonate of lead and the very white 
appearance is given by powdered talc or other white powder. 

Literature. — Kraemer, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1913, p. 344. 

Cantharis. — Cantharides. — Spanish Flies. — The beetle, Can- 
tharis vesicatoria (Fam. Meloidse). This coleopterous insect is 
found upon certain shrubs of the Caprifoliacese and Oleaceee, growing 
in southern and central Europe. The insects are gathered during 
June or July, by shaking the shrubs or beating them with poles, and 
collecting the insects upon cloths spread upon the ground. They 
are then thrown into suitable vessels, and killed by means of chloro- 
form, ether, or similar drugs. After which they are carefully dried, 
at a temperature not higher than 40° C. The commercial article 



706 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



is subject to the attack of other insects and a few drops of chloroform 
or carbon tetrachloride should be added from time to time to pre- 
serve them. The commercial supplies are obtained chiefly from 
southern Russia, Hungary (Fig. 312) and Spain and to some extent 
from Roumania, Poland and Sicily. 

Description. — (Fig. 311, A). Oblong, somewhat flattened, from 
1.5 to 2.5 cm. in length and 4 to 8 mm. in breadth, and of a brilliant 
green or bluish-green metallic luster, being somewhat golden-green 
underneath; head triangular, about 3 mm. in length, separated into 
2 lateral lobes by a longitudinal ridge or furrow; antennae from 4 to 6 
mm. in length, consisting of 11 uniseriate joints, the upper being 
somewhat spheroidal and of a black color; mandibles stout and 
partly concealed; eyes comparatively small; neck distinct; pro- 





Fig. 311. — A, Cantharis vesicatoria. B, Mylabris Cichorii. 

vitta. — After Snyder. 



C, Cantharis 



thorax angulate, 4-sided; body covered with fine scattered hairs 
and having 6 long, hairy, black legs, the first and second pair having 
5 tarsal joints, the hind pair being 4 parted and having 2 claws at 
the summit; elytra or wing sheaths elongated, nearly equal, almost 
completely covering the wings, upper portion finely wrinkled, having 
a brilliant green metallic lustre and possessing 2 parallel fines; 
under surface brown; wings 2, membranous, transparent, light brown 
and longer and broader than the wing cases; odor distinct; pene- 
trating and disagreeable; taste at first slight, afterwards pungent 
and very acrid. 

Powder. — (Fig. 313). Grayish-brown, with shining green par- 
ticles and a number of long, pointed, 1-celled hairs about 0.5 mm. in 
length and 0.002 mm. in width at the base. 



CANTHARIDES 



707 



Constituents. — The vesicating principle, cantharidin, is the 
lactome or anhydride of cantharidinic acid. It occurs from 0.4 
to 0.8 per cent, crystallizes in colorless prisms, being without odor 
and taste, nearly insoluble in water, cold alcohol, carbon disulphide 
and benzol, and soluble in hot alcohol, chloroform, waxes and fixed 
and volatile oils. In addition, about 12 per cent of a fixed oil, con- 




Fig. 312. — Original package of Spanish Flies (Cantharis) imported from Hungary. 
— After a photograph by Parke, Davis & Co. 



sitting of the glycerides of stearic, palmitic and oleic acid; a resin; 
and the following organic acids; formic, acetic and uric. The yield 
of ash is from 6 to 8 per cent. 

Mylabris or Chinese blistering-flies are obtained from Mylabris 
Cichorii, a coleopterous insect indigenous to the East Indies and 
China. They are elongated oval or cylindrical (Fig. 311, B), from 
1.8 to 2.5 cm, in length and from 4 to 11 mm. in breadth, elytra or 



708 



SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 



wing-sheaths black with 2 broad brownish-yellow, occasionally 
golden-yellow bands and at the anterior portion a pair of nearly 
circular brownish-yellow spots; heads somewhat triangular and of a 
jet black color; mandibles stout and large, partly concealed; antennae 




FlG. 313. — Cantharides (Cantharis vesicatoria) : abd, fragments of abdomen; ai, 
fragments of wings; ac, fragments of mites; el, fragments of elytra showing 
the external surface; eli, fragments of elytra showing internal surface, when 
cleared with Javel water; m, fragments of muscles; in, undetermined frag- 
ments; oa, eggs of mites; p, hairs from abdomen, thorax and wings. — After 
Collin. 



clavate, 11 jointed; eyes large and compound; prothorax wedge- 
shaped, black; the femora of first and second pair of legs are covered 
with yellowish hairs, while the third pair hairs are nearly glabrous 
and black; odor and taste slight, resembling cantharis. 



MUSK 709 

The powder of Myalbris is dark brown, and contains numerous, 
slender, sharp-pointed, blackish hairs, from 0.200 to 0.600 mm. in 
length and about 0.003 mm. in width at the base. 

American Blistering Beetles. — A number of species of Cantharis, 
especially the potato fly (Cantharis vittata), indigenous to the 
United States, have pronounced vesicating properties. They are 
smaller than C. vesicatoria and the elytra are black, having a mediun 
and marginal stripe of yellow. 

Literature. — Snyder, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1908, p. 545. 

Moschus. — Musk. — The dried secretion from a special follicle 
of Moschus moschiferus (Fam. Moschiese). The musk deer inhabits 
the mountainous regions of the northern provinces of China, Thibet 
and Siberia, extending to the elevated tablelands of the Balkan 
Sea. The musk sac is found only in the buck deer and is located on 
the abdomen between the umbilicus and the preputial follicle. The 
animals are hunted in the spring and early summer and killed, the 
musk sac removed as quickly as possible and carefully dried, the sacs 
of animals about 6 years old being preferred. They are placed in 
small, rectangular cases (Catties) lined with tin foil, shipped to 
Shanghai and thence exported to Europe. 

Description. — The musk sac is nearly ovoid and from 4 to 7 cm. 
in length, the upper surface being smooth, the lower convex and cov- 
ered with grayish-brown hairs, which are concentrically arranged 
around a small orifice. The secretion in the fresh state is of an unc- 
tuous consistence, which dries in the form of irregular granules from 
1 to 2 mm. in diameter, of a light brown or brownish-black color, 
being shiny and somewhat oily, having a peculiar penetrating and 
persistent odor, and an aromatic, bitterish taste. 

Upon the addition of a few grains of musk to 2 c.c. of chloro- 
form in a watch crystal the grains float on the surface. Upon 
stirring, with a glass rod, the solution remains nearly colorless, and 
as it evaporates there separates, around the particles, a small quan- 
tity of a whitish oil or fatty substance. 

The amount of musk soluble in water varies from 50 to 75 per 
cent. The aqueous solution should be of a dark-brown color, having 
a strong aromatic odor and a slightly acid reaction. The undis- 
solved portion consists of irregular fragments containing a finely 
granular substance; in addition there are numerous rod-like bacteria 
held in suspension, and occasionally the haphse of a fungus. 

The amount of musk soluble in alcohol should not be less than 
10 per cent, the solution being of a light yellowish-brown color and 
should become slightly turbid upon the addition of water. 



710 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

Upon the addition of a few grains of musk to 2 c.c. of alcohol 
contained in a watch crystal, the grains sink to the bottom, and 
upon stirring with a glass rod, a pale brown solution is obtained, 
being very slightly cloudy and leaving a somewhat oily stain upon 
the upper portion of the watch crystal as the alcohol evaporates; 
the undissolved portion of residue resembles that obtained 
with the aqueous mixture, except in that the particles are less 
disintegrated. 

Constituents. — From 0.5 to 2 per cent of a colorless, viscid vola- 
tile oil, consisting of a ketone having the odor of musk. Also fat, 
resin, cholesterin, protein substances, ammonium salts, calcium 
salts; and about 5 per cent of ash. Musk should not lose more than 
15 per cent of moisture when dried in a desiccator over sulphuric 
acid. 

Civetta. — Civet. — An unctuous secretion contained in a special 
pouch in both the male and female Civets, Viverra Civetea and V. 
Zibetha (Fam. Viverriese). The former is indigenous to Africa 
and the latter to southern Asia. The animals are sometimes kept 
in captivity, the secretion being removed by means of a small spoon, 
a few oubic centimeters being obtained from each animal at intervals 
of a few days. The secretion is dried and at first is of a yellowish 
color, becoming dark brown and has a strong musk-like odor, becom- 
ing pleasant on dilution and is used both alone and for fixing other 
odors. The American Civet-cat of Mexico is not a true Civet, but 
is related to the raccoon and is similar in its haunts and habits to the 
latter. 

Adulterants. — Musk is sometimes adulterated with dried blood, 
colophony, catechu, asphalt, glass, sand, meat, small seeds and frag- 
ments of wood, all of which are readily detected. 

POWDERED DRUGS 

Many of the powdered drugs, spices and food products resemble 
each other closely in form, color and other properties, and it is there- 
fore necessary that some outline for their identification be prepared. 
Two kinds of keys may be arranged: (a), In the one, the scheme of 
separation is dependent entirely upon the histological characters of 
the drugs under consideration. This method has been followed by 
Schneider in his work on " Powdered Drugs." (6), A second method 
is to arrange the powdered substances into fundamental groups, 
based on the color of the substances; these are then subdivided 
according to the anatomical characteristics of the powders. The 



POWDERED DRUGS 711 

author * prefers the latter method, and the following key, involving 
the examination of nearly 300 different substances, will be found 
helpful in practice and render expeditious the examination of even 
complex mixtures. A complete microscopical description of each of 
the powdered drugs, has already been given throughout the text, 
and these descriptions, as also the statements under inner structure, 
should be referred to by the analyst. It is very important when 
possible to compare the specimen under examination with authentic 
material. It will be found convenient to arrange all drugs having a 
similar color upon a single card, which can be filed away in suitable 
compartments, and at the same time easily accessible when needed 
for comparison. 

Adulterants. — Powdered drugs are frequently adulterated either 
by the use of wheat middlings or with exhausted powders, i.e., those 
from which the active or important constituents have been extracted. 
The following examples serve to illustrate the methods in use: 
Powdered cloves are occasionally admixed with the exhausted 
powder, or the exhausted powder alone to which a small quantity 
of oil of cloves and some coloring matter are added, is sold as pow- 
dered cloves. Exhasuted gentian, to which has been added a small 
quantity of a bitter drug like aloes, is sold in place of the genuine 
drug. In some cases, as in that of ground flaxseed, an attempt is 
made to supply the deficiency in oil of the exhausted product by 
adding a petroleum oil. In the case of a number of drugs, such as 
rhubarb, licorice and belladonna root, much of the commercial pow- 
der consists, in part at least, of the exhausted powder. In order to 
guard against the use of exhausted drugs there is a disposition to lay 
considerable stress upon the amount of extractive (aqueous, alcoholic 
or ethereal) yielded by different drugs. In many instances drugs 
that are worm-eaten, or admixed with other drugs or plant parts, 
are used in the preparation of powdered drugs. 

Reagents. — For the rapid differentiation and study of the char- 
acteristic tissues and cell-contents of the powder it is necessary to 
employ reagents which render the particles more or less transparent 
and at the same time do not destroy their characters. The most 
satisfactory reagent of this kind for general purposes is an aqueous 
solution of chloral or a solution of chloral and glycerin; about a 
milligram of the powder is mounted in a few drops of the solution, 
the preparation is gently heated, then allowed to cool, and examined; 
if it is not sufficiently transparent, it is heated again. The reagent 
causes a swelling of the cell-wall and is not applicable in the study of 
1 Kraemer, Amer. Jour. Pharm., 1898, pp. 506, 558, and 607. 



712 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

starch grains, but it is very useful in the study of mechanical tissues, 
hairs and calcium oxalate. 

After having determined the presence of starch, a separate 
mount of the powder in water is made and the size and markings of 
the grains noted. 

For the examination of more or less lignified cells, mounts are 
made, either in phloroglucin or aniline sulphate solution; in some 
cases it is advantageous to apply these solutions after the specimen 
has been previously treated with chloral. Sometimes it is desirable 
to study the mechanical cells more closely, and Schulze's macerating 
fluid may be used for isolating them. 

Examination.— Before making a microscopical examination of 
coarsely comminuted or powdered drugs or foods it is desirable 
to mix a small quantity of the material with a little water contained 
in a watch crystal or small beaker and note such features as the fol- 
lowing: (1) If the particles sink or float. In all genuine coffee, for 
instance, the particles rise to the surface, whereas in the substitutes 
and adulterants they sink. (2) If the particles disintegrate. All 
artificial products, as coffee and nutmeg, when made from exhausted 
powders or spurious substances, slowly disintegrate, leaving a fine 
sediment. (3) The color of the solution. A chelidonium powder, 
for instance, gives a golden-yellow solution, as also do many drugs 
containing berberine and allied principles. (4) Behavior of the solu- 
tion and particles toward alkalies or dilute hydrochloric acid. Drugs 
containing oxymethyl-anthraquinone derivatives, as senna, rhu- 
barb, aloes, frangula and cascara sagrada, are colored a deep red with 
alkalies. The particles of ruellia give a distinct effervescence with 
hydrochloric acid particularly if the mixture is slightly heated. The 
presence or absence of starch may be determined by heating the 
mixture, to which has been added a few drops of dilute hydrochloric 
acid, filtering, and adding iodine to the filtrate when cool. (5) 
The odor of the mixture, particularly on warming, is of considerable 
value, as in the detection of belladonna in inula or of conium in anise. 
The odor is also of value in recognizing the specimen, as very many 
drugs have a characteristic odor. The odor of a specimen is some- 
times, however, misleading, as a number of substances not at all 
related may have a similar odor. The odor of elm bark, for instance, 
is possessed by other substances, as fenugreek and wheat middlings, 
particularly if these substances are kept in closed vessels. 

The fixed oil, which occurs in considerable quantity in many 
seeds, interferes with their microscopical examination, and it is 
necessary to remove this before making mounts of the material. 



POWDERED DRUGS 713 

This can be accomplished by treating the powder with chloroform, 
xylol, acetone, ether, or other similar solvents. Alcohol as a rule 
is not a good solvent for these oils. The solvent may be added 
directly to the mount and the solution absorbed by means of filter 
paper. The following drugs and foods contain fixed oil and should 
be treated in this way: Almond, anisum, cacao, cardamom, carum, 
conium, coriandrum, cubeba, ergota, linum, macis, myristica, pimenta, 
pepo, piper, sinapis alba, sinapis nigra, staphisagria, strophanthus, 
and the various cereal products. 

All powders contain a certain amount of fragments of cell walls 
and other materials which are more or less alike in the different 
powders, and it is important that this fact be borne in mind in order 
that attention may be especially directed to those elements of the 
powder which have a diagnostic value. The latter, while relatively 
few. in number, are easily identified and the distinguishing features 
readily determined in nearly all cases. 

KEY FOR THE STUDY OF POWDERS 

POWDERS OF A GREENISH COLOR 

I Crystals of Calcium Oxalate present. 

A. Crystals in rosette aggregates. 

a. Glandular and non glandular hairs present. 

Cystoliths of calcium carbonate 1. Cannabis Indica 

Twisted non-glandular hairs 2. Eriodictyon 

Starch grains 15 to 40 /x in diameter 3. Galla 

Large multicellular glandular hairs 4. Humulus 

Numerous pollen grains 5. Insect Powder 

Glandular hairs few 6. Stramonii Folia 

b. Glandular hairs wanting. 

Hairs with slight projections 7. Pilocarpus 

Characteristic stone cells 8. Tea 

C. Glandular and non-glandular hairs wanting. 

Sphere-crystals of a Carbohydrate 9. Buchu 

Crystals 1 to 2 n in protein grains 10. Conium 

Crystals 15 /x 11. Castanea 

Crystals 40 to 60 n 12. Chimaphila 

Outer wall of epidermal cells very thick 13. Eucalyptus 

Crystal fibers 14. Granatum 

B. In monoclinic prisms. 

a. Glandular and non-glandular hairs present. 

Crystals about 10 m 15. Hyoscyamus 



714 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

B. In monoclinic prisms. — Continued. 

b. Only non-glandular hairs present. 

Characteristic stone cells 16. Cardamomum (Ceylon) 

Crystal fibers 17. Hamaraelidis Folia 

Fragments reddish with alkalies 18. Senna 

Non-glandular hairs few 19. Uva Ursi 

c. Glandular and non-glandular hairs wanting. 

Epidermal cells with papillae .20. Coca 

Few fragments of tissues 21. Guaiacum 

Few crystal fibers and non-glandular hairs 22. Uva Ursi 

C In crystal fibers. 

Rosette-shaped crystals numerous 23. Granatum 

Crystal fibers few 24. Uva Ursi 

D. In sphenoidal micro-crystals. 
a. With hairs. 

Hairs few 25. Belladonnas Folia 

Non-glandular hairs numerous 26. Tabacum 

Starch grains 10 to 35 fx 27. Solanum Carolinense 

6. Hairs few or wanting. 

Starch grains 5 to 7 /* 28. Dulcamara 

I. Calcium Oxalate Crystals wanting. 

A. Cystoliths of calcium carbonate present. 

Glandular and non-glandular hairs 29. Cannabis Indica 

Stone cells characteristic 30. Ruellia 

B. Calcium carbonate wanting. 

a. Glandular and non-glandular hairs present. 
a Fragments of pappus present. 

Pollen grains 10 to 20 \x .31. Eupatorium 

Pollen grains about 25 yu 32. Grindelia 

Fragments of pappus wanting. 

1. Glandular hairs with 1- and 2-celled heads. 

Non-glandular hairs characteristic 33. Digitalis 

2. Glandular hairs with 1- to 8-celled head. 

Odor characteristic 34. Hedeoma 

Non-glandular hairs twisted 35. Marrubium 

Non-glandular hairs 1- to 8-celled. 

36. Mentha Piperita 

Non-glandular hairs 1- to 3-celled 37. Scutellaris 

Non-glandular hairs parallel with surface of leaf 

38. Salvia 



POWDERED DRUGS 715 

B. Calcium carbonate wanting. — Continued, 
b. Glandular hairs wanting. 

a With non-glandular hairs. 

1. Pollen grains 

* Hairs numerous. 

Non-glandular hairs 1 -celled 39. Lobelia 

Non-glandular hairs 1- to 6-celled 40. Matico 

** Hairs very few. 

Cells of non-glandular hairs very short, oblong. 

41. Tanacetum 

2. Pollen grains wanting. 

Hairs 1-celled, with thick walls 42. Scoparius 

j8 Non-glandular hairs wanting. 

Starch grains present 43. Cardamomum 

With tracheids 43a. Sabina 

Without starch grains 44. Staphisagria 

Aqueous solution of a golden-yellow color. .45. Chelidonium 



POWDERS OF A YELLOWISH COLOR 

I. Fragments of Vegetable Tissue present. 
A. Containing starch. 

a. With calcium oxalate crystals. 
a In rosette aggregates. 

Crystal fibers 46. Frangula 

Isodiametric stone cells 47. Galla (Aleppo) 

Starch grains swollen 48. Jalapa 

Calcium oxalate crystals 50 to 100 m 49. Rheum 

/3 In monoclinic prisms. 

Characteristic starch grains 50. Calumba 

Starch grains swollen 51. Curcuma 

Crystal fibers 52. Frangula 

Long sclerenchymatous fibers 53. Gelsemium 

Tracheae with bordered pores 54. Quassia 

y In crystal fibers. 

With cork fragments 55. Glycyrrhiza (Spanish) 

Without cork fragments 56. Glycyrrhiza (Russian) 

5 In raphides. 

Tracheids with bordered pores 57. Ipecacuanha 

Long sclerenchymatous fibers 58. Phytolacca 

Endodermal cells with thick walls 59. Veratrum Viride 



716 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

A. Containing starch. — Continued. 

b. Calcium oxalate wanting. 
a Stone cells present. 

Characteristic starch grains 60. Calumba 

/3 Stone cells wanting. 

1. Starch grains 15 to 30 /* in diameter. 

With yellow oil-secretion cells 61. Zingiber 

2. Starch grains 5 to 15 y. in diameter. 

Long non-lignified bast fibers 62. Mezereum 

Ducts large 63. Pareira 

Lignified sclerenchymatous fiber 64. Serpentaria 

Powder lemon-yellow 65. Berberis 

3. Starch grains less than 5 ix in diameter. 

Crystals of alkaloids with sulphuric acid . . 66. Hydrastis 

4. Starch grains altered. 

Large cells with swollen grains 67. Curcuma 

B. Starch grains few or none. 

a. Calcium oxalate crystals present. 

a In rosette aggregates. 

Non-glandular hairs 68. Anisum 

Oil-like globules in epidermis 69. Calendula 

Non-glandular hairs wanting 70. Fceniculum 

/3 Id mono clinic prisms. 

Crystals 15 to 20 m 71. Aurantii Amari Cortex 

Crystals 20 to 30 y. 72. Aurantii Dulcis Cortex 

7 In raphides. 

Crystals 0.1 to 1 mm. long 73. Scilla 

b. Calcium oxalate crystals wanting. 

a Sclerenchymatous cells or fibers present. 

1. Dark pigment cells wanting. 

Stone cells with thickened inner walls . . 74. Sinapis alba 
Stone cells ellipsoidal, uniformly thickened ... 75. Pepo 
Parenchyma cells large, thin-walled .... 76. Colocynthis 

2. Pigment cells present. 

Stone cells with thickened inner walls . 77. Sinapis Nigra 
Characteristic sclerenchymatous cells and fibers. 

78. Fenugreek 



POWDERED DRUGS 717 

2. Pigment cells present. — Continued. 

Short sclerenchymatous fibers 79. Linum 

A colorless layer of cells with minute starch grains. 

80. Cydonium 

/3 Sclerenchymatous tissue wanting. 

1. Pollen grains numerous. 

Fragments of pappus 81. Arnicse Flores 

Pollen grains smooth 82. Sambucus 

Pollen grains spinose 83. Matricaria 

2. Pollen grains few. 

Pollen grains prickly 84. Calendula 

Pollen grains nearly smooth 85. Crocus 

Corolla white 86. Anthemis 

Bitter, ducts scalariform 87. Chirata 

3. Pollen grains wanting. 

* Fibrovascular tissue present. 

Containing inulin masses 88. Lappa 

Sclerenchymatous fibers numerous 89. Senega 

Starch and scalariform tracheae 90. Aspidium 

** Fibrovascular tissue wanting. 

Few fragments of tissues 91. Cambogia 

Large glandular hairs 92. Lupulinum 

Tetrahedral spores. 93. Lycopodium 

II. Few or No Fragments of Vegetable Tissue. 

A. Giving off odor of sulphur dioxide on heating. 

Rounded masses in chains 94. Sulphur Lotum 

Rounded masses in irregular groups 95. Sulphur Praecipitatum 

B. NO ODOR OF SULPHUR DIOXIDE ON HEATING. 

a. Nearly colorless in glycerin mount. 

Transparent, irregular masses 96. Mastiche 

b. Yellowish in glycerin mount. 

a Containing oil globules. 

Irregular masses 97. Scammonium 

/3 Transparent or translucent. 

Soluble in cold alcohol 98. Colophony 

Insoluble in cold alcohol 99. Sandarac 

Reddish with alkalies 100. Aloe (Cape) 

7 More opaque. 

Light or grayish particles 101. Ammoniac 

Yellowish particles 102. Cambogia 



718 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

POWDERS OF A BROWNISH COLOR. 
I. Fibrovascular Tissue present. 
A. Containing starch. 

a. Calcium oxalate crystals present. 
a In rosette aggregates. 

1. With sclerenchymatous fibers. 

* Containing oil, resin or tannin masses. 

Sclerenchymatous fibers few.. 103. Belladonnae Radix 

Starch grains 4 to 20 n 104. Gossypii Cortex 

Starch grains 3 to 7 n, compound 105. Rubus 

Crystals 10 to 35 m 106. Juglans 

Crystals 35 to 70 n 107. Aralia Nudicaulis 

Starch grains 15 to 30 ix 108. Stillingia 

Modified bast fibers 109. Euonymus 

Red with alkalies 110. Rumex 

Fibers few 110a. Canella 

** No resin or tannin masses. 

Crystals about 25 m HI. Althaea 

2. Sclerenchymatous fibers wanting. 

* Containing tannin. 

f With oil-secretion reservoirs. 

Starch grains ellipsoidal. ... 112. Fruit of Clove 
Reddish brown tannin masses. . .113. Pimenta 

ft Oil-secretion reservoirs wanting. 

Light-brown tannin masses 114. Galla 

Calcium oxalate 45 to 70 n 115. Geranium 

Calcium oxalate 50 to 100 n 116. Rheum 

** Without tannin. 

Sphenoidal micro-crystals. . .117. Belladonnae Radix 

/3 Crystals in monoclinic prisms and pyramids. 

Crystal fibers 118. Frangula 

Sclerenchymatous fibers characteristic 119. Krameria 

Crystal fibers and stone cells 120. Rhamnus Purshiana 

Crystals in stone cells 121. Juniperus 

y Crystal fibers present. 

1. Sclerenchymatous fibers strongly lignified. 

* Colored reddish with alkalies. 

Without stone cells 122. Frangula 

With stone cells 123. Rhamnus Purshiana 



POWDERED DRUGS 719 

1. Sclerenchymatous fibers strongly lignified. — Continued. 

** Not colored reddish with alkalies. 

Stone cells characteristic 124. Quercus Alba 

Stone cells characteristic. . . . 125. Prunus Virginiana 

Taste bitter, acrid 126. Myrica Cerifera 

Taste sweetish, slightly bitter. 

127. Pulvis Glycyrrhizae Compositus 

2. Sclerenchymatous fibers not strongly lignified. 

Fragments of ducts 128. Calamus 

No fragments of ducts 129. Ulmus 

5 Calcium oxalate in raphides. 

1. Raphides not more than 10 n long. 

No fragments of ducts 130. Cinnamomum 

Fragments of ducts present 131. Sarsaparilla 

2. Raphides 40 to 45 m long. 

Spherical starch grains 3 to 12 n 132. Convallaria 

Thick-walled parenchyma with simple pores. 

133. Cypripedium 
Ellipsoidal starch grains 7 to 20 /z . 134. Veratrum Viride 

3. Raphides 200 fx long. 

Starch grains 4 to 15 /. . - ±35. Hydrangea 



e Calcium oxalate in sphenoidal micro-crystals. 

Sclerenchymatous fibers few 136. Belladonnae Radix 

Bast fibers characteristic 137. Cinchona 



b. Calcium oxalate crystals wanting. 
a With non-glandular hairs. 

Greenish fragments with sulphuric acid . . 138. Strophanthus 

j8 Non-glandular hairs wanting. 

1. Sclerenchymatous fibers present. 
* Tracheae numerous. 

f Starch grains 2 to 5 y. in diameter. 

Ducts large and with bordered pores. 

139. Cimicifuga 
Thick-walled parenchyma with simple pores. 

140. Cypripedium 

Scalariform ducts 141. Leptandra 

Tracheae with reddish contents . . . 142. Spigelia 



'20 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

* Tracheae numerous. — Continued. 

ft Starch grains 5 to 15 or 20 ll in diameter. 

Characteristic starch grains. .. .143. Zingiber 

Odor of coumarin 144. Tonka 

Chocolate taste 145. Cocoa Shells 

Fragments of milk vessels 146. Apocynum 

Raphides 45 n long 147. Convallaria 

Raphides 6 to 8 ju long 148. Sarsaparilla 

Ducts with bordered pores 149. Sumbul 

Stone cells characteristic 150. Valeriana 

Stone cells 151. Methysticum 

** Tracheae few or none. 

Characteristic bast fibers 152. Cinchona 

Raphides about 5 n long 153. Cmnamomum 

hort sclerenchymatous fibers 154. Coffee 

Starch grains 7 to 20 n, compound . . . 155. Sassafras 

2. Sclerenchymatous fibers wanting. 

* Stone cells present. 

f Giving tannin reaction with ferric salts. 

Stone cells characteristic 156. Cacao 

Altered starch grains 157. Guarana 

Stone cells characteristic 158. Piper 

Thick-walled endosperm cells. 

159. Colchici Semen 

ft Not becoming blue or green with ferric salts. 

Starch grains 4 to 12 /x 160. Aconitum 

Starch grains 25 to 40 li 161. Physostigma 

** Stone cells wanting. 

Starch grains 7 to 20. ... I .. . 162. Colchici Cormus 

Altered starch grains 163. Guarana 

Numerous oil globules 164. Myristica 

Amylo-dextrin starch grains 165. Macis 

Few fragments of vegetable tissue 166. Opium 

Starch grains 5 to 12 n 167. Podophyllum 

Odor characteristic 168. ChenoDodium 

B. Starch grains few or none. 
a. Containing calcium oxalate. 
a In rosette aggregates. 

1. Small crystals in aleurone grains. 

With non-glandular hairs 169. Anisum 

Calcium oxalate 0.5 to 1 m 170. Carum 

Calcium oxalate 3to7/x 171. Coriandrum 

Calcium oxalate 1 to 2 ll 172. Fceniculum 



POWDERED DRUGS 721 

a In rosette-shaped crystals. — Continued. 

2. Crystals not less than 10 n in diameter. 
* Pollen grains numerous. 

Crystals numerous 173. Caryophyllus 

Crystals few 174. Insect Powder 

** Pollen grains few. 
f Ducts present. 

Glandular and non-glandular hairs. .175. Cusso 
ft Ducts wanting. 

Stone cells few 176. Viburnum Opulus 

Stone cells numerous. 

177. Viburnum Prunifolium 

/3 Calcium oxalate in monoclinic prisms. 

1. Numerous seeds. 

Characteristic odor 178. Vanilla 

2. Seeds wanting. 

Stone cells few 179. Viburnum Opulus 

Stone cells numerous, characteristic. 

180. Viburnum Prunifolium 
Numerous oil globules 181. Xanthoxylum 

7 Calcium oxalate in crystal fibers. 

Stone cells characteristic 182. Quercus Alba 

6. Calcium oxalate wanting. 

a Containing pollen grains. 

Non-glandular hairs numerous 183. Arnicae Flores 

Spherical pollen grains 184. Crocus 

Non-glandular hairs few 185. Santonica 

j3 Pollen grains wanting. 

1. Stone cells numerous. 

Fragments wine-colored with sulphuric acid. 

186. Cubeba 

Characteristic stone cells 187. Delphinium 

Green fluorescence in chloral mount. 

188. Stramonii Semen 
Ducts reticulate 189. Pyrethrum 

2. Stone cells wanting. 

Non-lignified intermediate fibers 190. Gentiana 

Few fragments of tissues 191. Opium 

Tracheae with elongated, narrow pores. 

192. Taraxacum 

Tracheae with large, simple pores 193. Chicory 

Ducts spiral, annular or with simple pores. 

194. Triticum 



722 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

II. Without Fibrovascular Tissue. 

A. With cellular tissues. 

Spores about 7 /x 195. Ustilago 

Numerous oil globules 196. Ergota 

Thick-walled cells of capsules 197. Opium 

Gragments of woody tissues 198. Goa Powder 

B. Without cellular tissues. 

a. Possessing oil. 

Grayish fragments 199. Asafetida 

Yellowish or yellowish-brown fragments 200. Myrrha 

b. Without oil. 

a Remaining opaque in glycerin. 

Characteristic odor 201. Aloes (Socotrine) 

Characteristic odor 202. Benzoinum 

Grayish opaque fragments 203. Elaterinum 

Brownish angular masses 204. Lactucarium 

/3 More or less translucent in glycerin. 

Dark brown 205. Aloes (Curacao) 

Yellowish-brown 206. Aloes (Socotrine) 

With acicular crystals 207. Gambir 

With rhombohedral crystals 208. Catechu 

Fragments translucent, deep red 209. Kino 

i 

POWDERS OF A REDDISH COLOR 

I. Containing Starch. 

Very light pink, crystals present 210 Quillaja 

Reddish, crystals wanting 211. Sanguinaria 

II. Without Starch. 

A. Stone cells present. 

Characteristic stone cells 212. Capsicum 

Characteristic stone cells 213. Illicum 

Mucilage cells and sclerenchymatous fibers. . ' 214. Cydonium 

Characteristic glandular hairs 215. Rhus Glabra 

Non-glandular hairs 0.5 to 2 mm. long 216. Rosae Caninae Fructus 

Woody tissues only 217. Willow Charcoal 

B. Stone cells wanting. 

a. With wood fibers. 

Coloring principle soluble in water. ... 218. Haematoxylon 

Coloring principle insoluble in water. . . .219. Santalum Rubrum 

b. Wood fibers wanting. 

Blue with sulphuric acid 220. Crocus 

Containing tannin 221. Kino 

Large glandular hairs 222. Lupulinum 



POWDERED DRUGS 723 

b. Wood fibers wanting. — Continued. 

Characteristic odor 223. Opium 

Epidermal cells with papilla? 224. Rosa Gallica 

Fragments of anthers 225. Rosa Centifolia 

Long slender styles 226. Zea 



POWDERS OF A WHITISH APPEARANCE. 

I. Plant Tissues or Cell-Contents recognizable. 

A. Only unaltered starch grains present. 

Excentral and fissured point of origin of growth. 

227. Maranta Starch 
Excentral and circular point of origin of growth.228. Potato Starch 

Polygonal grains 229. Corn Starch 

Small, polygonal, compound grains 230. Rice Starch 

Ellipsoidal, point of origin of growth indistinct .321. Wheat Starch 
Characteristic grains 232. Other Starches 

o. Altered and unaltered starch grains present. 

Becomes pasty on addition of cold water 233. Dextrin 

Becomes pasty with hot water 234. Sago 

Disintegrates with water 235. Sago (Imitation) 

c. Plant tissues in addition to starch. 

a Do not readily dissolve or swell in cold water. 

Polygonal starch grains 236. Corn Meal 

Free from hairs 237. Corn Bran 

Starch grains 5 to 40 n in diameter 238. Wheat Flour 

Hairs with thick walls and narrow lumen. 

239. Wheat Middlings 

Starch grains 20 to 60 m in diameter 240. Rye Flour 

Thin-walled hairs with large lumen 241. Rye Middlings 

Starch grains 5 to 25 n in diameter 242. Barley Flour 

Sclerenchyma fibers with brown contents. 

243. Buckwheat Flour 

Starch grains 2 to 10 n in diameter 244. Rice Flour 

Hairs broader near the middle 245. Oat Meal 

Lignified hairs, starch grains few 246. Nux Vomica 

Characteristic starch grains 247. Orris Root 

Very long prisms of calcium oxalate 248. Quillaja 

Raphides of calcium oxalate 249. Bryonia 

Aromatic odor 249a. Calamus 

Thin-walled bast fibers 249b. Ulmus 



724 SCIENTIFIC AND APPLIED PHARMACOGNOSY 

c. Plant tissues in addition to starch. — Continued. 

P Soluble or swelling in cold water to form a sticky mass. 

Starch and fragments of ducts 250. Tragacantha 

B. Without starch. 

a. Calcium oxalate present. 

Raphides 0.1 to 1 mm 251. Scilla 

b. Calcium oxalate wanting. 

Characteristic lignified hairs 252. Nux Vomica 

Characteristic stone cells 253. Almond 

II. Absence of Plant Tissues. 

A. Soluble in water. 

Forming a mucilage with water 254. Acacia 

Monoclinic prisms 255. Saccharum 

B. Insoluble in water. 

a. Soluble in alcohol. 

Irregular fragments 256. Camphora 

b. Insoluble in alcohol. 

a Reddish color with sulphuric acid. 

Gritty; monoclinic prisms of various sizes. 

257. Saccharum Lactis 

/3 No color reaction with sulphuric acid. 

1. Soapy feel. 

Broken crystals 258. Talc 

2. Soluble in acetic acid. 

* With effervescence. 

In prisms or irregular angular fragments. 

259. Precipitated Calcium Carbonate 

An amorphous powder 260. Prepared Chalk 

Rhombic crystals or irregular fragments. 

261. Barium Carbonate 
** Without effervescence. 

Rounded masses 262. Heavy Magnesia 

Very light 263. Light Magnesia 

3. Insoluble in acetic acid. 

* Soluble in nitric acid. 

Tetragonal or cubical crystals. 

264. Precipitated Calcium Phosphate 

Acicular crystals 265. Calcium Sulphate 

Rhombic prisms or crystals of various sizes. 

266. Barium Sulphate 
Irregular fragments 267. Terra Alba 



INDEX 



Abele, 158 

Abrin, 347 

Abrus, 347 

Absinthium, 682 

Acacia, 330 

Acer, 411 

— spicatum, 652 

Achillea, 683 

Acid, Abietic, 40 
Arabic, 331 
Aurantiamaric, 372 
Cetraric, 27 
Chrysophanic, 189 
Embelic, 147 
Filicic, 32 
GaUic, 169 
Guaiaconic, 361 
Helvellic, 24 
Kinic, 640 
Krameric, 339 
Lichenostearic, 27 
Luparmaric, 179 
Lycopodic, 34 
Maizenic, 16, 52 
Melilotic, 136, 346 
Resin, 44 
Resinolic, 40 
Sandaracolic, 47 
Santalic, 330 
Saporubic, 202 
Sinapic, 60 
Tangic, 6 
Tannic, 168 

Aconite, 213 

— , Leaves, 218 

Aconitine, 217 

Aconitum, 213 

Acorin, 74 

Actinostrobus, 47 



Adder's Tongue, 107 
Adiantum, 34 
Adonis, 227, 228 
Adulteration, xv 
iEthusa Cynapium, 501 
Agar-agar, 8 
Agaric, 16 
Agaricus spores, 14 
Agropyron repens, 51 
Ague Root, 98 
Aletris, 98 
Algse, 5 
Algin, 7 
Alkanet, 562 
Alkanna, 562 
Allium, 94 
AUspice, 468 
— , Adulterants, 470 
Almond, Bitter, 294 
— , Green, 408 
— , Sweet, 297 
Aloes, 86 

— Barbadoes, 90 

— Cape, 91 

— Crown, 91 

— Curacao, 90 

— Detection of, 93 

— Jaffarabad, 93 

— Natal, 93 

— Socotrine, 88 

— Uganda, 91 

— Zanzibar, 89 
Aloin, 91 
Althaea, 427 
Altingia, 294 
Amanita, 18 
Amaryllis, 109 
Ammoniac, 499 
Amygdala Amara, 294 

— Dulcis, 297 



725 



726 



INDEX 



Amylum, 54 

— Marantae, 128 
Anacardium, 406 
Andropogon, 64 
Anemone, 222 

Anesthetics, Synthetic Local, 358 
Angelica Fruit, 496 

— Root, 494 

— Tree, 475 
Angiosperms, 50 
Angustura, 374 
Anhalonium, 457 
Animal Drugs, 699 
Anise, 246, 478 

— , Japanese Star, 247 
Annatto, 446 
Anona muricata, 202 
Anthemis, 667 
Anthoxanthum, 136 
Anti-opium Plant, 471 
Anti-serums, 1 
Apii Fructus, 493 
Apiol, 493 
Apocynum, 541 
Apple, Bitter, 655 

— Jelly, xiii 
Apron, Devil's, 5 
Araceae, 73 
Aralia, 473 

Araroba Depurata, 339 
Araucarias, 36 
Arbor Vitae, 48 
Arbutin, 504, 506 
Archegoniates, 29 
Archil, 28 
Areca Nut, 71 
Arecoline, 71 
Argel, 320 
Aristolochias, 184 
Arnica Flowers, 666 
— , Root 692 
Arnicin, 667 
Aronwurzel, 73 
Arrow Poison, 110 
Arrowroot, 129, 400 
— , Brazilian, 553 
— , East Indian, 123 

— Starch, 62 
Artemisia Cina, 671 
Arum Family, 73 



Asafetida, 497 
Asarum, 184 
Asclepias, 549 
Asparagin, 429 
Aspen, 158 
Aspidium, 29 
Aspidosperma, 547, 
Astragalus, 332 
Atropa Belladonna, 581 
Atropine, 587 
Aurantium, 371 
Azedarach, 384 
Azolitmin, 29 

B 

Bacillariaceae, 9 
Bacillus bulgaricus, 3 
Bacteria, 1 
Bacterins, 2 

Bacteriology, Applied, 5 
Ballota hirsuta, 568 
Balsam, Canada, 45 

— Fir, 45 

— , Oregon, 45 

Balsamum Peruvianum, 341 

— Tolutanum, 342 
Baptisia, 343 
Barberry Family, 230 
Barley, 63 

— Flour, 60 
Bassorin, 333 
Bay berry, 158 
Bdellium, 382 
Bean Starch, 62 
Bearberry, Red, 506 
Beech, 165 

Beetles, Blistering, 709 
Belladonna Leaves, 581 

— Root, 590 
Benzoin, 512 
Berberidaceae, 230 
Berberine, 211, 235 
Berberis, 233, 235 
Beri-beri, 58 
Bermuda Grass, 52 
Betel Nut, 71 
Bethroot, 107 
Betula, 162 

— alba, 38 
Bhang, 174 



INDEX 



727 



Bichy Nut, 435 
Birch, 162 

— tar, 38 
Birthroot, 107 
Bistort, 195 
Bitter Almonds, 294 

— Dock Root, 194 

— Panus, 23 
Bittersweet, True, 611 
Blackberries, 302 
Blackberry Bark, 301 
Black Cohosh, 219 

— Haw, 649 
Bladder Wrack, 6 
Blazing Star, 78 
Bloodroot, 275 
Bluebell Family, 661 
Blue Cohosh, 236 
Boldo, 248 
Boneset, 679 
Borage Family, 562 
Borneol, 187 
Botanical origin, xxi 
Bougies, 5 
Bouncing Bet, 200 
Bran, Corn, 58 

— , Rice, 58 
— , Wheat, 59 
Brauneria, 694 
Brayera, 303 
Broom, 320 
Brucea, 379 
Brucine, 525 
Brunfelsia, 614 
Bryonia, 659 
Bryophytes, 29 
Buchu, 368 
Buckthorn Bark, 423 

— Family, 415 
Buckwheat Family, 189 

— Flour, 60 
Bully tree, 510 
Buphane Disticha, 110 
Burdock, 692 
Burgundy Pitch, 43 
Butternut, 160 



Cacao, 437 
Cactus Family, 455 



Cadinene, 39 
Caesalpinacese, 311 
Csesalpinia, 330 
Caffeine, 415, 436, 647 
Calabar Bean, 323 
Caladiums, 73 
Calamus, 74 
Calendula, 667, 670 
Calf's Foot Root, 73 
Calisaya, 637 
Callitris, 47 
Caltrop, 359 
Calumba, 240 
Camellia, 442 
Camphor, 257 
Camwood, 330 
Canada Balsam, 45 

— Pitch, 44 

— Turpentine, 45 
Canaigre, 169 
Candleberry, 158 
Canella, 447 
Cannabis, American, 176 

— Indica, 173 
Canna Starch, 62 
Cantharidin, 707 
Cantharis, 705 
Caoutchouc, 393 
Capsicum, 606 
Caraway, 481, 484 

— Oil, 482 
Carbo Ligni, 156 
Cardamom, 125, 127 
Cardinal Flower, 664 
Carica, 453 

Carob Bean, 648 
Carrageen, 7 
Carrot Family, 478 
Carthamus, 112 
Carum, 481 
Carven, 482 
Carvol, 482 
Carya, 159 
Caryophyllus, 466 
Cascara Sagrada, 416 
Cascarilla, 396 
Cashew-nut, Oriental, 408 
— , West Indian, 407 
Casimiroa, 373 
Cassava Starch, 63, 400 



728 



INDEX 



Cassia, 255, 256, 316 
Cassia Fistula, 320 
Castanea, 165, 169 
Castor Bean, 398 
Catechu, 333, 334 
Caulophyllum, 236 
Cayenne Pepper, 606 
Cedar, 50 
Celandine, 274 
Celery seed, 493 
Centaurium, 537 
Cepheeline, 644 
Cephaelis, 641 
Cereus, 455 
Cetraria, 26 
Chamaolerin, 79 
Chamaelirium, 99 
Chamomile, English, 667 
— , German, 669 
Charcoal, Wood, 156 
Chaulmoogra Seeds, 446 
Chavica omcinarium, 146 
Checkerberry, 508 
Chelidonine, 274 
Chelidonium, 274 
Chenopodium, 196 
Cherry Bark, Wild Black, 298 

— Leaves, 442 
Chestnut, 165, 169 
Chicory, 689 
Chilli Pepper, 606 
Chimaphila, 504 
Chinquapin, 170 
Chionanthus,. 515 
Chirata, 536 
Chrysin, 157 
Chocolate, 439 

— Adulterants, 440 
Choline, 76 
Chondrus, 7 
Chrysanthemum, 673 
Chrysarobin, 339, 340 
Cichorium, 689 
Cimicifuga, 219 
Cinchona, 633 
Cinchonine, 640 
Cinnamein, 342 
Cinnamon, 250, 254 
— , W T hite, 447 
Civet, 710 



Civet Adulterants, 710 

Cladonia, 28 

Claviceps purpurea, 11 

Clitocybe llludens, 22 

Cloves, 466 

Clove Bark, 256 

Clover, Red Blossoms., 345 

— , Yellow Sweet, 345 

Cluytia Similis, 401 

Coca, 352 

Cocaine, 356 

Cocculus, 107, 241 

Coccus, 699 

Cochineal, 699 

Cochlospermum, 333 

Cocillana, 383 

Cocoa, 437 

Cocoanut, 71 

— , Double, 72 

— Shells, 72 
Codeine, 270 
Coffee, Bean, 646 
— , Fig, 180 

— Substitutes, 648 
Cohosh, Black, 219 
— , Blue, 236 
Cola, 435 
Colchicine, 86 
Colchicum Corm, 84 

— seed, 86 

Colic Root, 98, 109 

Collection of drugs, xxii, xxiv, xxvii 

Collinsonia, 578 

Colocynthis, 655 

Colophony, 39 

Columbo, American, 536 

Combretum, 471 

Commelinaceae, 76 

Commercial origin, xxii 

Composite Family, 665 

Condurango, 551 

Coniferse, 36 

Coniferin, 37 

Coniine, 486 

Conium, 479, 484 

Convallaria, 96 

Convallarise Flores, 98 

Convallamarin, 98 

Copaiba, 340 

Coprinus, Spores of 14 



INDEX 



729 



Copra, 72 
Coptis, 223 

— Root, 224 
Coriander, 487 
Coriandrum, 487 
Coriaria, 576 
Corn Bran, 58 

— Dent, 56 

— Flint, 56 

— Meal, 56 

— Silk, 52 

— Smut, 14 

— Sugar, 56 

Cornicularia aculeata, 28 
Cornus, 502 
Corydalis, 278 
Corylus, 162 

Coto, 262 

Cotton Purified, 431 

— Root Bark, 432 
Cough Grass, 51 
Coumarin, 136, 328, 346 
Coumarouna, 134 
Cramp Bark, 649 
Cranesbill, Spotted, 349 
Cresote, 42 

Cretan Dittany, 575 
Crinum, 96 
Crocin, 112 
Crocus, 110 
Croton, Bark, 400 

— Eluteria, 396 
Cryptograms, 29 
Cubeb, 149 
Cubeba, 149 
Cuckow Pint Root, 73 
Cucumber seeds, 658 
Cucurbita, 658 
Cudbear, 28 
Culver's Root, 629 
Cuprea bark, 641 
Curcuma, 122, 130 
Curled dock, 193 
Cuskus Root, 64 
Cusparia Bark, 374 
Cusso, 303 

— , loose, 305 

Custard Apple Family, 202 

Cycads, 36 

Cycas, 63 



Cydonium, 308 
Cynips tinctoria, 167 
Cytisine, 345 
Cypripedium, 137, 389 



Daisy, Field, 676 
Dalmatian Flowers, 673 
Damiana, 449 
Dandelion, 687 

— Root, Blue, 689 
Daphne, 460 
Datura species, 601 
Day Flower, 76 
Death Camas, 83 

— Cup, 20 
Delphinium, 222 
Derris Ulignosa, 348 
Destroying Angel, 20 
Dextrin, 63 

— White, 63 

— Yellow, 63 
Diastase, 64 
Diatoms, 9 
Di centra, 278 
Dicoma Anomala, 699 
Dicotyledons, 140 
Digitalin, 621, 624 
Digitalis, 617 

— , Adulterants, 628 
Digitalon, 627 
Digitonin, 626 
Digitoxin, 622 
Dioscorea, 108 
Dittany Cretan, 575 
Divining rod, 164 
Dogbane, Family, 540 
Dog Grass, 51 
Dog's tongue, 136 

— tooth Violet, 107 
Dogwood Family, 502 
— , Poison, 405 
Douglas spruce, 45 
Dragon's Blood, 337 
Drosera, 285 
Drybalanops, 258 
Dryopteris, 29 
Duboisia, 601 
Dulcamara, 611 



730 



INDEX 



Dulce, 489 
Dumb Cane, 73 



Ecballium Elaterium, 661 

Ecgonine, 358 

Echinacea, 694 

Egg Plant, 580 

Eibischwurzel, 427 

Elastica, 393 

Elaterin, 661 

Elaterium, 661 

Elder, Flowers, 652 

— , Poison, 405 

— , Prickly, 475 

Elecampane, 689 

Elettaria Cardamomum, 125 

Elm, Bark, 172 

Embelia, 147 

Embelic Acid, 147 

Emetine, 644 

Emodin, 190 

Empleurum, 370 

Entada, 326 

Enzymes, 26 

Epigaea, 503 

Ergot, 11 

Ergotoxine, 13 

Ericaceous plants, 159 

Ericolin, 508 

Eriodictyon, 561 

Erythronium, 107 

Erythrophloeum Guineense, 348 

Erythroxylon, 352 

Eucalyptol, 465 

Eucalyptus, 336, 463 

Eugenia Smithii, 335 

Eugenol, 470 

Euonymus, 409 

Eupatorium, 679 

Euphorbia, 397 

Euphorbias, 390 

Everlasting, 676 

Evernia prunastri, 28 

Evernin, 28 

Exogonium Purga, 553 



Faex Compressa, 26 
False Unicorn Root, 78 



Fagaceae, 42 

Fagus, 165 

Fennel, 489, 491 

Fenugreek, 326 

Fern, Sweet, 159 

Ferns, 29 

Ferula, 497 

Ficus, 179 

Fig, 179 

Figwort Family, 616 

Filbert, 164 

Filicin, 32 

Filixic anhydride, 32 

Filmaron, 33 

Fir, 158 

Fish Berries, 241 

Flag, Larger Blue, 113 

— , Poison, 113 

— , Water, 113 

Flax, 350 

Flaxseed, 351 

Flour, Barley, 60 

— , Buckwheat, 60 

— , Rice, 58 

— , Rye, 60 

— , Wheat, 59 

Fly amanita, 19 

Fceniculum, 489 

Fcenum Grsecum, 326 

Folia Gualtheriae, 508 

Fool's Parsley, 487 

Fox Glove, 617 

Franciscera, 614 

Frangula, 423 

Fraxinus, 516 

Fringe Tree Bark, 515 

Frost weed, 444 

Frostwort, 444 

Fucus, 6 

Fumitory Family, 276 

Fungi, 11 

— , Poisonous, 18 



Galanga, 124 
Galbanum, 500 
Galega, 345 
Galipidine, 375 
Galium, 136 
Galla, 167 



INDEX 



731 



Galls, 168, 169 

Gambir, 334 

Gamboge, 443 

Ganja, 174 

Garcini Hanburyi, 443 

Garlic, 94 

Gaultheria, 508 

Gelatin, Chinese, 8 

— , Japan, 8 

Gelose, 9 

Gelsemine, 521 

Gelsemium, 518 

Gemmae Populi, 157 

Gentian, 532, 534 

Geranium, 349 

Germ, Wheat, 59 

Gigartina, 8 

Gilead Buds, Balm of, 157 

Ginger, 117 

— , coated, 117 

— , Crystallized, 117 

— , exhausted, 122 

— , Jamaica, 117 

— , limed, 122 

— , peeled, 117 

— , scraped, 117 

— , Wild, 184 

Ginseng, 475 

— Family, 473 
Gitalin, 627 

Glandulae Rottlerae, 394 
Glycine, 346 
Glycyrrhiza, 311 
Gnetaceae, 36 
Gnoscopine, 272 

Goa Powder, 340 
Goat's Rue, European, 345 
Golden Seal, 208 
Goldthread, 223 
Goosefoot Family, 196 
Gossypium Purificatum, 431 
Gracilaria, 8 
Gramineae, 51 
Granatum, 460 
Grape-Root, Oregon, 233 
Grass, couch, 51 

— dog, 51 

— Family, 51 

— quick, 51 

— sweet vernal, 136 



Grass vanilla, 136 
Great Aspen, 158 
Green Gill, 22 
Grindelia, 677 
Gromwell Leaves, 442 
Ground Pine, 35 
Guarana, 414 
Guarea Rusbyi, 383 
Guaiac resin, 360 
Guaza, 174. 
Guiaci Lignum, 360 
Gum Arabic, 330 
— , Artificial, 331 
— , Eucalyptus, 465 
— , Indian, 331 

— Mesquite, 331 

— resin, 443 
— , Spruce, 45 

— Wattle, 331 
Gummi Plasticum, 510 
Gums, 331, 332, 333 
Gutta-Percha Family, 510 
Guttiferae, 443 
Gymnosperms, 36 

H 

Habitat, xxi 
Haematoxylon, 329 
Hagenia, 303 
Hamamelis, 288 
Hancornia, 394 
Harmine, 177 
Hazel-nut, 164 
Heath Family, 503 
Hedeoma, 571 
Hedysarum, 314 
Helianthemum. 444 
Helichrysum, 676 
Hellebore, American, 79 
— , Black, 84 
— , European, 79 

— False, 84. 227 
— , Green, 227 
— , White, 79 
Helleborin, 84 
Helonias, 78, 99 
Heivella amara, 24 
Hemlock, American Water, 501 

— Bark, 44 

— , Eu-opean Water, 501 



732 



INDEX 



Hemlock Pitch, 44 
— , Poison, 484 
— , Water, 486 
Hemp, Canadian, 541 
— , East Indian, 173 
— , Manilla, 110 
— , Sisal, 110 
Henbane, 595 
Heptapleurum, 478 
Hercules Club, 475 
Hevea, 393 

Honeysuckle Family, 648 
Hops, 177 
— , Spanish, 575 
Hordenine, 64 
Horehound, Black, 568 
— , White. 567 
Horsebalm-root, 578 
Horse Nettle, 612 
Humulus, 177 
Hydrangea, 286 
Hydrangin, 287 
Hydrastine, 211 
Hydrastis, 208 
Hydrophyllaceae, 561 
Hyoscyamine, 591, 600 
Hyoscyamus, 595 
Hyoscine, 600, 601 
Hypocreaceae, 11 
Hyssop, Wild, 563 

I 

Iceland Moss, 26 

Ignatia, 527 

Illicum, 246 

Ill-scented Wake-robin, 108 

Immortelle Yeliow, 676 

India-Rubber, 393 

Indian Apple, 231 

— Root, 473 
Indigo, Red, 28 

— Root, WQd, 343 
Infusorial Earth, 9 
Inga, 354 

Insect Powder, 673 
Insects in drugs, xxiii 
Inula, 689 
Invertase, 26 
Iodin in algae, 6 
Ionidium, 645 



Ipecac, 273, 641, 642, 645 
Ipecacuanha, 641 
Ipomoea, 556 
Iridis Rhizoma, 115 
Iris, 110, 115 
Irish Moss, 7 
Ironbark Tree, 466 
Ivory nut, ground, 648 



Jaborandi, 365 

Jack-bean, 326 

Jack-in-the-pulpit, 73 

Jack-o'-lantern, 22 

Jalap, 553 

— , Compound Powder of, 556 

— , Substitutes, 556 

Jamaica Ginger, 117 

Jambosa Caryophyllus, 466 

Jamestown Weed, 603 

Japan Gelatin, 8 

Jasmine, 518 

Jateorhiza, 240 

Jequiritin, 347 

Jequirity, 347 

Jervine, 82 

Jessamine, 518 

Jimson Weed, 603 

Joe-pye weed, 682 

Juglans, 159 

Jungle Plant, 471 

Juniper Berries, 48 

Juniperus, 39, 48 

K 

Kalmia, 503 
Kamala, 394 
Kava-kava, 153 
Kefir, 4 

Kesso root, 654 
Kichsia, 394 
Kieselguhr, 9 
Kino, 335, 337 
— , Australian, 465 
Kiurushi, 405 
Knotroot, 578 
Kola, 435 

Kordofan Gum, 331 
Ko-sam seeds, 379 
Kosteletzyka, 429 



INDEX 



733 



Kousso, 303 
Krameria, 337 



Labiatae, 564 

Labrador Tea, 508 

Lacquer, Japanese, 405 

Lacmus, 29 

Lactarius, 22 

Lactuca, 687 

Lactucarium, 698 

Lady's Slipper, 137 

Lagenaria, 658 

Laminaria, 5 

Landolphia, 394 

Lappa, 692 

Larch Bark, 43 

Larcis Cortex, 43 

Laricina Terebinthina, 42 

Larkspur Seed, 222 

Lasiosiphon, 460 

Latalia Radix, 124 

Laticiferous cells, 390 

Lauraceae, 250 

Laurel, 250 

— , Cherry, 300 

Lavandula, 577 

Lavender Flowers, 577 

Lecanora tartarea, 28 

Ledum, 508 

Leea, 339 

Leguminosae, 310 

Lemon, 373 

Lepiota Morgani, 22 

Leptandra, 629 

Liatris, 79 

Lichens, 26 

Licorice, Compound Powder, 315 

— Root, 311, 314 
Life Root, 696 
Lignum benedictum, 360 

— guiaci, 360 

— Juniperi, 49 

— sanctum, 360 

— Santali, 182 

— vitae, 360 
Liliaceae, 76 

Lily of the Valley, 96 
Limonum, 373 
Linseed, 350 



Linum, 350 

Lipase, 71 

Lippia, Mexicana, 563 564 

Liquidambar, 292 

Liquorice, 311, 314 

— Seed, Wild, 347 
Lithraea Caustica, 406 
Litmus, 29 

Litsea, 152 
Lobelia, 662 
Lobeline, 664 
Lodoicea, 72 
Loganiaceae, 517 
Logwood, 329 
Lophophora, 457 
Lupulin, 179 
Lycopodiaceae, 34 
Lycopodium, 34 
Lythraceae, 460 

M 

Mace, 206, 208 
Macis, 206 
Macleya, 272 
Madura, 173 
Madder Family, 632 
Magnolia, 245 
Magnoliaceae, 245 
Mahogany Family, 382 
Mahonia, 230 
Maidenhair, 34 
Male Fern, 29 
Mallow Family, 427 
Malt, 63, 64 . 
Maltose, 24 
Maltum, 63 
Malva, 431 
Malvaceae, 427 
Manaca, 614 
Mandelonitrile, 299 
Mandragora, 591 
Mandrake, 231, 591 
Mangrove Extract, 335 
Manihot, 394 
Manna, 514 
Mannitol, 514 
Maple Charcoal, 156 

— Family, 411 

— , Mountain, 652 
Maranta, 129 



734 



INDEX 



Maranta Starch, 62 
Margosa, 386 
Marigold, 670 
Marjoram, 576 
Marrubium, 567 
Marsdenia, 560 
Marshmallow Leaves, 429 

— Root, 427 
Mastic, 406 
Mate, 422 
Matico, 147 
Matricaria, 669 
May Apple, 231 
Meadow Sweet, 442 
Meal, Corn, 56 

— , Flaxseed, 352 
— , Linseed, 352 
Meconine, 272 
Meliaceae, 382 
Melilotus, 136, 345 
Menispermum, 238 
Mentha Piperita, 568 

— Viridis, 571 
Menthol, 569 
Menyanthes, 540 
Mescal Buttons, 457 
Metchnikoff's theory, 3 
Methyl salicylate, 510 
Methysticum, 153 
Mexican Tea, 197 
Mezerein, 460 
Mezereon Family, 457 
Mezereum, 459 
Micro-chemistry, xvi . 
Microscope, Use of, xiii, xix 
Middlings, Wheat, 60 
Milfoil, 683 

Milkweed Family, 549 

— Root, Orange, 549 
Milkwort Family, 387 
Minosaceae, 311 
Mint, 573 

— Family, 564 
Monarda didyma, 575 
MonimiaceaB, 248 
Monkshood, 213 
Monocotyledons, 51 
Moonseed, Canada, 238 
Moracese, 173 

Morning Glory Family, 552 



Morning Glory Stems, 556 

Morphine, 268 

— , Compound Powder of, 274 

Morus, 442 

Moschus, 709 

Moss, bog club, 35 

— fir club, 35 

— stiff club, 35 
Mountain Ash, 442 
Mulberry, 173 

— Family, 173 

— Leaves, 442 
Mullein, 631, 632, 664 
Mulu Kilavary, 382 
Muscarine, 23 
Mushrooms, Poisonous, 18 
Musk, 709 
Muskmelon, 658 
Mustard, 279-285 

— , Black, 283 

— Dakota, 284 

— Family, 279 

— Field, 284 

— Sarepta, 284 

— Yellow, 279 

— White, 279 
Myrica, 158 
Mylabris, 707 
Myristica, 203 
Myrobalans Family, 470 
Myrrh, 381 
Myrtacese, 463 
Myrtle family, 463 



N 



Napelline, 217 
Narceine, 272 
Narcissine, 110 
Narcissus, 110 
Narcotine, 271 
Naregamia, 645 
Narindin, 372 
Naringin, 372 
Natural origin, xxi 
Nectandra, 261 
Neen Bark, 386 
Nephelium, 323 
Nettle, 170 
— family, 170 
— , horse, 613 



INDEX 



735 



Nettle, Stinging, 180 
Nicotiana, 614 
Nicotine, 616 
NigeUa, 482 

Nightshade Family, 580 
Nitrogen-fixing bacteria, 4 
Nut areca, 71 

— Brazil, 470 

— Buffalo, 181 

— Kola, 435 

— on, 181 
Nutgall, 167 
Nutmeg, 203, 205 
Nux Vomica, 521 

Family, 517 

, Strychnos, 375 



Oak, 165 

— Leaves, 442 
— , Poison, 403 
Oenanthe Crocata, 501 
Oil, Almond, 295 

— , Cade, 39 

— , Castor, 399 

— , Caraway, 482 

— , Chenopodium, 196 

— , Clove, 468 

— , Cocoanut, 72 

— , Juniper, 49 

— , Kesso root, 654 

— , Kien, 39 

— , Lavender, 578 

— , Palm, 72 

— , Peru Balsam, 342 

— , Pine needle, 38 

— , Sandalwood, 182, 184 

— , Spike, 578 

— , Spearmint, 571 

— , Tar, 42 

— , Turpentine, 38 

— , Vetiver, 65 

Olea, 517 

Olive Family, 513 

— endocarp, 147 
Opium, 266, 273 
Orange Peel, Sweet, 371 

, Bitter, 372 

Orcein, 28 

Orchid, 130 



Orchil, 28 

Orchis, 136 

Ordeal bean, 323 

Oregon Balsam, 45 

Orlean Annatto, 528 

Ornithogalum Thyrsoides, 108 

Orosul, 563 

Orris Butter, 116 

— Root, 115 

Oryganin, 58 

Oryza sativa, 55 

Osmunda Claytoniana, 34 

Oxymethylanthraquinone, 317 



Pachira, 429 
Palaquium, 510 
Palms, 67 
Palmse, 67 
Panax Ginseng, 475 
— Repens, 476 
Panus Stipticus, 23 
Papain, 455 
Papaver, 263 
Papaverine, 271 
Papaw, 453 
Papaya, 453 
Papilionacea?, 310 
Paprika, 609, 610 
Para-Coto, 263 
Para Rubber, 393 
Paraguay Tea, 442 
Pareira, 243 
Parilla, YeUow, 238 
Parsley, Fool's, 501 
— , Fruit, 491 
— , Root, 493 
Passiflora, 452 
Passion Flower, 451 
Pasteur's Solution, 25 
Pater Noster tree, 385 
Paullinia Cupana, 414 
Pawpaw, 453 
Pea Starch, 63 
Peganum Harmala, 177 
Pelletierine, 461 
Pellitory, 686 
Peltigeria aphthose, 28 
Pennyroyal, 571, 572 
Peperomia, 146 



736 



INDEX 



Pepo, 657 
Pepper, 142 
— , Acheen, 146 

— Adulterations, 147 
— , Black, 142 

— , Bombay, 609 

— , Cayenne, 606, 609 

— , Chilli, 606 

— Shells, 146 

— Substitutes, 147 
— , White, 146 
Peppercorns, 146 
Peppermint, 568 
Peppertree, Peruvian, 406 
Persian Flowers, 674 
Persio, 28 

Peru Balsam, 341 
Petroselinum, 491 
Phsesophyceae, 6 
Pharmacognosy, xiii 
Pharmacopoeia, xxii 
Phaselous Multiflorus, 347 
Phlox Carolina, 532 
Physostigma, 323 
Physostigmine, 323 
Phytolacca, 198, 199, 589 
Picea, 45 

Picea Liquidae, 42 
Picraena, 377 
Picrasma, 376 
Picrotoxin, 243 
Pilocarpine, 368 
Pilocarpus, 365 
Pimenta, 468 
Pimiento, 610 
Pimpernel, 481 
Pimpinella, 481 
Pinaceae, 36 
Pine Bark, 36 
— , Family, 36 

— pollen, 35 

— , Prince's, 504 
Pink, Carolina, 532 

— Family, 200 
Pinkroot, 527 
Pinus Alba, 36 
Piper, 142 
Piperaceae, 142 
Piperine, 145 
Pipsissewa, 504 



Pistacia Lentiscus, 406 
Pistachio, 408 
Pitch, 44 
Pix Burgundica, 43 

— Canadensis, 44 

— Liquida, 41 
Pleurisy Root, ,549 
Podophyllum, 231 
Poison, Bulb, 110 

— flag, 110 

— hemlock, 484 

— ivy, 403 

— oak, 403 

Poke Root, 198, 591 
Polygala, 387 
Polygalaceae, 387 
Polygonaceae, 187 
Polypodiaceae, 29 
Pomegranate Bark, 460 
Pomegranate Family, 460 
Pop-corn, 55 
Poplar, 155 
Poppy, 263 
Populus, 155 
Potato plant, 612 

— Starch, 62 
— , Sweet, 552 
Potentilla, 309 
Powdered Drugs, 711 
Powder, Rice, 58 
Powders, Key for Study, 713 
Preservation of Drugs, xxiii, xxvi 
Prickly Ash, 362 

— Cedar, 39 
Pride of China, 385 

— India, 385 
Prince's Pine, 504 
Protopine, 272 
Prune, 309 
Prunicine, 461 
Prunum, 309 
Prunus, 442 

— Virginiana, 298 
Pseudotsuga, 45 
Psychotrine, 644 
Pteridium, 33 
Pteridophytes, 29 
Pteris, 33 
Pterocarpus, 330 
Pulsatilla, 222 



INDEX 



737 



Pulse Family, 310 
Pumpkin Family, 655 

— Seed, 657 
Punica, 460 
Purging Cassia, 320 
Pussy-willow, 155 
Pyrethri Flores, 673 
Pyrethrum, 686 
Pyrolaceae, 504 

Q 

Quality of drugs, xxiv 

Quassia, 376 

Quassin, 377 

Quebracho, 547 

Queensland arrowroot starch, 63 

Quercus, 165 

Quick Grass, 51 

Quillaja, 302 

Quince Seed, 308 

Quinine, 639 

R 

Radix Coptidis, 224 

— Iwarancusae, 64 

— Lapathi, 194 

— Palmae Christi, 140 

— Salep, 139 

— Saponariae Rubra, 200 
Ragwort, 696 
Ranunculaeeae, 208 
Rasamala, 294 
Raspberries, 302 

Red algae, 5 

— bearberry, 506 

— cedar, 50 

— fir, 45 

— gum, 465 

— Indigo, 28 

— Saunders, 333 

— water, 110 
Redwood, 330 
Regaliz de Cuba, 5C3 
Remijia, 641 
Resin, 39, 40, 41 
Resina Drastica, 556 
Rhamnaceae, 416 
Rhamnus Catharticus, 425 

— Frangula, 423 

— Purshianus, 416 



Rhatany, 337 

Rhein, 190, 191 

Rheopurgarin, 191 

Rheum, 189 

Rheumatism Root, 109 

Rhizoma Aronis, 73 

Rhizophora, 335 

Rhododendron, 503 

Rhodophyceae, 5 

Rhubarb, 189 

Rhubarb, Compound Powder of, 193 

Rhus Glabra, 402 

— Toxicodendron, 403 

— Vernix, 405 
Rice Bran, 58 

— Flour, 58 

— Powder, 58 

— Starch, 58 
Richardsonia, 646 
Ricini, Semen, 398 
Robinia Pseudo-Acacia, 348 
Roccella, 28 

Rockrose Family, 444 
Root, Orris, 115 
Rosaceae, 294 
Rosa caninae fructus, 307 
Rosa Gallica, 305 
Rose Family, 294 

— Hips, 307 

— Pink, 539 
— , Red, 305 
Rosin, 39, 40 
Rottlera, 394 
Rubber, India, 393 
— , Para, 393 

— Vulcanization, 394 
Rubiaceae, 632 
Rubus, 301 

Rue, 362 
Ruellia, 531 
Rumex, 193 
Rumicin, 194 
Russula Emetica, 23 
Rutaceae, 362 
Rye Flour, 60 



Sabadilla seeds, 83 
Sabal, 68 
Sabatia, 539 



738 



INDEX 



Sabina, 49 
Sabinol, 50 
Saccharomyces, 24 
Safflower, 113 
Saffron, True, 110 
— , Spanish, 110 
Sage, 573 
Sago, Imitation, 03 

— Starch, 63 
Salep, 139 
Salicacea?, 155 
Salicin, 156 
Salix, 155 
Salvia, 573 
Sambucus, 652 
Sandalwood, 182 
Sandarac, 47 
Sanguinaria, 275 
Santalacea*, 181 
Santalum Album, 182 

— Rubrum, 330 
Santonica, 671 
Sapindacere, 414 
Sapodilla, 510 
Saponaria officinalis, 200 
Sapotacea?, 510 
Saprophytic plants, 133 
Sarcocolla, 333 
Sarsaparilla, 99 

— , American, 107 
— , American Wild, 474 
— , Central American, 99 
— , Honduras, 99 
— , Jamaica, 104 
— , Mexican, 99, 104 
— , Virginian, 474 
Sassafras, 258 

— Pith, 261 
Savin, 49 

Saw Palmetto, 68 

Saxifrage Family, 286 

Scammony, 557 

— , Levant Resin, 559 

— , Mexican, 558 

— , Montpelier, 560 

— , Smyrna, 559 

Scarlet Runner Bean, 347 

Schinsent, 475 

Schizomycetes, 1 

Schcenocaulon, 83 



Scilla, 95 
Scillitoxin, 96 
Scoparius, 320 
Scopola, 592, 594 
Scopolia carnoilica, 589 
Scrophulariacea?, 616 
Scutellaria, 565 
Selenipedium Chica, 133 
Semecarpus, 408 
Semen Arecse, 71 
Senecio, 696 
Senega, 387 
Senna, 316 
Sequoias, 36 
Serpentaria, 186 
Serpentarin, 187 
Serpentary, English, 195 
Serums, 3 
Sesquiterpene, 39 
Seven Barks, 286 
Shikimmi fruits, 247 
Sida, 429 
Siliceous Earth, 9 
Simaruba, 378 
Simarubacese, 375 
Sinapis Alba, 279 
— Nigra, 283 
Skimmi fruits, 247 
Skullcap, 565 
Sleepy Grass, 65 
Slippery Elm, 172 
Sloe Leaves, 442 
Sloanine, 612 
Smilax, 99 

Snake Root, 186, 187 
— , Black, 219 
— , Canada, 184 
Snowdrop flowers, 110 
Soap Bark, 302 
Soapberry Family, 414 
Soaproot, Red, 200 
Soapwort, 200 
Solanaceaj, 580 
Solanum, 589, 612 
Sorbus Leaves, 442 
Soursop, 202 
Soy Bean, 346 
Spanish Flies, 705 
Sparteine, 320 
Spearmint, 571 



INDEX 



739 



Spiderwort Family, 76 
Spigelia, 527 
Spikenard, 107 
— , American, 473 
Spruce gum, 45 
Spurge Family, 390 
Squill, 95 
Squirrel Corn, 278 
Staff-tree Family, 409 
Staphisagria, 221 
Starch, 52 
— , Arrowroot, 62 
— , Bean, 62 
— , Canna, 52 

— Cassava, 63 
— , Corn, 55, 56 
— , Maranta, 62 

— Pea, 63 
— , Potato, 62 
— , Rice, 58 

— , Queensland arrowroot, 63 

— , Sago, 63 

— , Sweet Potato, 63 

— , Tapioca, 63 

— , Wheat, 59 

— , Yam, 62 

Starches, Miscellaneous, 62 

Stavesacre, 221 

Sterculiacese, 435 

Sterocaulon pascale, 28 

Stillingia, 391 

Stipa, 67 

Stipa Vaseyi, 65 

Stoneroot, 578 

Storax, 292 

Stramonium, 601, 603, 606 

Strasburg turpentine, 43 

Strawberries, 302 

Strawberry, 443 

Strophanthin, 546 

Strophanthus, 543 

Strychnine, 525 

Study of drugs, xxvii 

Styraceae, 511 

Styrax, 292 

Styrax Family, 511 

Styrol, 293 

Sugar Corn, 56 

— Grape, 180 

— Maple, 412 



Sumac, 401 
Sumbul, 496 
Sundew, 285 
Swamp Pink, 78 
Sweeria, 537 
Sweet birch, 162 

— clover, 345 

— fern, 159 

— flag, 74 

— gale, 158 

— potato Vine, 552 

— scented bed straw, 136 

— vernal grass, 136 
Swietenia, 382 



Tabacum, 614 
Tabasco, 470 
Tacamahac, 157 
Tacca, 129 
Tallow tree, 437 
Tamarind, 321 
Tambla Bark, 634 
Tanacetum, 683 
Tangic acid, 6 
Tansy, 683 
Tapioca, 130, 400 
Tar, 41 
— , Birch, 38 
Taraktogenos, 446 
Taraxacum, 687 
Taxacese, 36 
Tea, 441 

— Adulterants, 442 
— , Mexican, 197 
— , Paraguay, 442 
Teaberry, 508 
Tents, 5 
Tephrosia, 319 
Terebinthina, 37 
Terebinthina Canadensis, 45 

— Laricinia, 42 

— Veneta, 42 
Terminalia, 335 
Terra Japonica, 334 

— Silicea, 9 
Thalictrum, 213 
Thallophytes, 1 
Than, 335 
Thea, 441 



740 



INDEX 



Thebaine, 271 
Theine, 436 
Theobromine, 437 
Thuja, 48 
Thujin, 48 
Thyme, 574 
Thymelaeacea?, 457 
Thymus, 574 
Tinospora, 240 
Tobacco, 614, 662 
— , Adulterants, 616 
— , Indian, 662 
Toddaiia, 213 
Tolu Balsam, 342 
Toluifera Pereirac, 341 
Tomato, 580 
Tonka, 134, 326 
Tormentilla, 309 
Tradescantia, 76 
Tragacanth, 332 
Tragopogon, 667 
Trifolium, 346 
Trilisia, 136 
Trilline, 108 
Trillium, 107 
Triosteum, 648 
Triticin, 52 
Triticum, 51 
Tsuga, 44 
Tuberculins, 2 
Turiones Populi, 157 
Turkey Corn, 278 
Turmeric, 122, 130 
Turnere, 449 
Turneraceae, 449 
Turpentine, 37, 42 
Turpeth root, 556 
Tussilago, 685 



U 



Ulmaceae, 172 
Ulmus, 172 
Umbelliferae, 497 
Uncaria, 334 
Unicorn Root, 98 
Urginea, 95 
Ursone, 508 
Urtica, 180 
Urticaceae, 170 



Usnea barbata, 28 
UstilaginaceaR, 14 
Ustilago, 14 
Uva-ursi, 506 



Vaccines, 1 
Valerian, 653 

— Adulterants, 654 
Valerianacea?, 653 
Valuation of drugs, xxvi 
Vanilla, 130, 134 
Vanillin, 133, 513 
Vanillons, 134 
Varnish Tree, 405 
Venice Turpentine, 40 
Venus Hair, 34 
Veratrine, 83 
Veratrum. 79, 82 
Verbascum, 631 
Verbena, 563 
Verbenaceae, 563 
Vervain Family, 563 
Vetiver, 64 
Viburnum, 649 

Violet, Dog's Tooth, 107 
Virus, 1 
Vitaceae, 136 
Vitis, 136 
Vouacapoua, 339 

W 

Wahoo Bark, 409 
Walnut, 159 

Walnut Shells, English, 162 
Water flag, 113 

— hemlock, 486 
Waterleaf Family, 560 
Watermelon Seeds, 658 
Wax Myrtle, 158 
Weymouth Fine, 36 
Wheat Bran, 59 

— Flour, 59 

— Germ, 59 

— Starch, 59 

— Middlings, 59 
White Ash Bark, 510 

— Cedar ; 48 



INDEX 



741 



— Cinnamon. 447 

— Oak, 165 

— # White Pine Bark, 36 
Whortleberry, 504 
Wild Cherry, 298 

— Ginger, 184 
Willow, 155, 443 
Winterana, 447 
Wintergreen, 508 
Wistaria, 443 
Witchhazel, 288 

— Bark, 290 

— Leaves, 288 

— Twigs, 292 
Wood Charcoal, 156 
Wolfsbane, 218 
Wormseed, American, 196 
— , Levant, 671 
Wormwood, 682 



Xanthoxylum, 362 
Xylopia, 147 



Yam Root, 109 
— , Starch, 62 
Yarrow, 683 
Yeasts, 24 
Yellow Dock, 193 

— Jessamine, 518 

— Parilla, 238 

— Root, 122 
Yerba Santa, 561 



Zanthium macrocarpum, 606 

Zanthoxylum, 362 

Zapote bianco, 373 

Zea, 52 

— Mays, 52 

Zedoaria, 124 

Zingiber, 117 

Zygadenine, 83 

Zygadenus, 83 

Zygophyllacese, 359 

Zymase, 26 




Wiley Special Subject Catalogues 

For convenience a list of the Wiley Special Subject 
Catalogues, envelope size, has been printed. These 
are arranged in groups — each catalogue having a key 
symbol. (See special Subject List Below). To 
obtain any of these catalogues, send a postal using 
the key symbols of the Catalogues desired. 



1 — Agriculture. Animal Husbandry. Dairying. Industrial 
Canning and Preserving. 

2 — Architecture. Building. Masonry. 

3 — Business Administration and Management. Law. 

Industrial Processes : Canning and Preserving; Oil and Gas 
Production; Paint; Printing; Sugar Manufacture; Textile. 

CHEMISTRY 
4a General; Analytical, Qualitative and Quantitative; Inorganic; 

Organic. 
4b Electro- and Physical; Food and Water; Industrial; Medical 

and Pharmaceutical; Sugar. 

CIVIL ENGINEERING 

5a Unclassified and Structural Engineering. 

5b Materials and Mechanics of Construction, including; Cement 
and Concrete; Excavation and Earthwork; Foundations; 
Masonry. 

5c Railroads; Surveying. 

5d Dams; Hydraulic Engineering; Pumping and Hydraulics; Irri- 
gation Engineering; River and Harbor Engineering; Water 

Supply. 

(Over) 



CIVIL ENGINEERING— Continued 
5e Highways; Municipal Engineering; Sanitary Engineering; 
Water Supply. Forestry. Horticulture, Botany and 
Landscape Gardening. 



6 — Design. Decoration. Drawing: General; Descriptive 
Geometry; Kinematics; Mechanical. 

ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING— PHYSICS 

7 — General and Unclassified; Batteries; Central Station Practice; 
Distribution and Transmission; Dynamo-Electro Machinery; 
Electro-Chemistry and Metallurgy; Measuring Instruments 
and Miscellaneous Apparatus. 



8 — Astronomy. Meteorology. Explosives. Marine and 
Naval Engineering. Military. Miscellaneous Books. 

MATHEMATICS 
9 — General; Algebra; Analytic and Plane Geometry; Calculus; 
Trigonometry; -Vector Analysis. 

MECHANICAL ENGINEERING 

10a General and Unclassified; Foundry Practice; Shop Practice. 
10b Gas Power and Internal Combustion Engines; Heating and 

Ventilation; Refrigeration. 
10c Machine Design and Mechanism; Power Transmission; Steam 

Power and Power Plants; Thermodynamics and Heat Power. 
11 — Mechanics. 

12 — Medicine. Pharmacy. Medical and Pharmaceutical Chem- 
istry. Sanitary Science and Engineering. Bacteriology and 

Biology. 

MINING ENGINEERING 

13 — General; Assaying; Excavation, Earthwork, Tunneling, Etc.; 
Explosives; Geology; Metallurgy; Mineralogy; Prospecting; 
Ventilation. 



